MONDAY, May 19, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- Checking for mutations in a certain gene in younger women who have endometrial cancer may help identify families who are at risk for inherited cancers.
That's the claim of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Their study of 441 women with endometrial cancer found that at least 1.6 percent of women with endometrial cancer have mutations in a gene called MSH6. That frequency is comparable to that for the most common inherited form of colon cancer.
Further research suggests that mutations in the MSH6 gene may be associated with a higher chance that the women and members of her family will develop certain kinds of cancer later in life.
The study appears in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The findings suggest more women than previously believed have mutations that indicate they have an inherited susceptibility to cancer. The findings may also explain why cancer seems to run in families that don't have mutations in other genes associated with cancer susceptibility.
Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer and the fourth most common cancer in women. About 39,300 women in the United States were diagnosed with endometrial cancer last year, and 6,600 died from it.
More information
Here's where you can learn more about endometriosis.
