Oct 9, 2009 1:07 pm US/Eastern
Research Shows Breast Cancer High In Hispanics
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Cancer research typically has scientists discovering traits and medications that can help patients in the future. But new research is showing something that happened centuries ago continues to affect cancer patients.
Dr. Marilyn Raymond specializes in cancer treatment. She will often tell patients that DNA in our cells are programmed to repair mistakes. But sometimes, a genetic mutation destroys that ability to make repairs.
"When you have a mutation in BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 you have people who cannot repair their DNA mistakes. So they have more cancer than people who have normal genes," Dr. Raymond said.
Doctors have known for years that BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 mutations are more common among Ashkenazi Jews. But a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found there are also a higher percentage of BRCA 1 mutations in Hispanics.
BRCA 1 mutations appear in 8.3 percent of Ashkenzai Jewish, 3.5 percent of Hispanic patients and 2.2 percent of non-Ashkenzai, non-Hispanic patients.
"The reason the BRCA 1 gene is found in people of Hispanic ancestry is because during the Spanish Inquisition Jewish people, Sephardic Jewish people, left Spain and fled to Mexico to avoid persecution. Then they intermarried and had children with people in Mexico which led to the dissemination of the gene into that population," Dr. Raymond said.
According to Dr. Raymond, these findings suggest Hispanics need to be aware of their risk. Then it's up to the individual to determine if genetic testing is something to consider.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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