According to new Icelandic research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute on Tuesday, women with BRCA2 gene mutations have a 70% chance of getting breast cancer before the age of 70. About 0.5% of Icelandic women have this mutation reports the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service,RÚV. The likelihood that Icelandic women get breast cancer has quadrupled since the year 1920. According to RÚV a likely explanation is in part due to changes in lifestyle.
The paper, Population-Based Study of Changing Breast Cancer Risk in Icelandic BRCA2 Mutation Carriers, 1920–2000, was co-authored by Laufey Tryggvadóttir, biologist and director of the cancer register and Jórunn Erla Eyfjörð, a geneticist at the Icelandic Cancer Society. It has generated interest worldwide reports RÚV. Other authors of the paper are Helgi Sigvaldason, Gudridur H. Olafsdottir, Jon G. Jonasson, Thorvaldur Jonsson, and Hrafn Tulinius.
