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High-Frequency Low-Penetrance Alleles

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The Role of Genetics in Breast and Reproductive Cancers

Part of the book series: Cancer Genetics ((CANGENETICS))

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Abstract

Breast cancer, like other common cancers, tends to cluster in families, with disease being approximately twofold more common in first-degree relatives of cases [1–3]. The higher rate of most cancers in the monozygotic twins of cases than in dizygotic twins or siblings suggests that most of the familial clustering is the result of genetic variation rather than lifestyle or environmental factors [4,5]. Furthermore, simulation studies have shown that even if an environmental factor is perfectly correlated among relatives, it needs to confer at least a 10-fold increase in risk to result in even modest increases in familial relative risk

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Paul Pharoah

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  1. Paul Pharoah
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Correspondence to Paul Pharoah .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Medical Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195-7720, U.S.A.

    Piri Welcsh

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Pharoah, P. (2009). High-Frequency Low-Penetrance Alleles. In: Welcsh, P. (eds) The Role of Genetics in Breast and Reproductive Cancers. Cancer Genetics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0477-5_11

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