Breast Cancer is a cancer of prosperity: Mary-Claire King

Dr. Mary-Claire King

A few decades ago, when the predominant belief was that breast cancer was caused by viruses and when DNA sequencing technology was yet to be discovered, Dr. Mary-Claire King proved that the disease was linked to genetic mutations.

It took Dr. King — who is currently Professor Genome Sciences at the University of Washington — 15 years to build a mathematical model to support the hypothesis. In the 1990s, she and her team identified the BRCA1 gene, popularly called the breast cancer gene. (My Note: That's how long it will take to prove any hypothesis in biology or nutrition or any health related matter. So, one can better address health issues through observation and epidemiology).

“Breast cancer is uniquely a cancer of prosperity. It’s a cancer of women who are educated and consequently decide to postpone having their children. Of young girls who are well-nourished and consequently begin menstruation or menarche at a younger age,” she said, adding that the interval between the age of menarche and the age of first pregnancy is now three-four times longer than it was a 100 years ago. “And the link of that interval has been shown by epidemiological studies worldwide to be primary determinant of breast cancer risk,” she said.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/Breast-cancer-is-a-cancer-of-prosperity-Mary-Claire-King/article17348900.ece

***

While on the faculty at Berkeley, in 1990, King demonstrated that a single gene on chromosome 17, later known as BRCA1, was responsible for many breast and ovarian cancers—as many as 5-10% of all cases of breast cancer may be hereditary.[6] (My Note: Shows how low is the percentage of cancer is caused by heredity and genes. So, it must be mostly environmental factors which cause cancer in people who are predisposed genetically. So, the answer to preventing cancer would be in reducing or avoiding the environmental factors).The discovery of the "breast cancer gene" revolutionized the study of numerous other common diseases; prior to and during King's 17 year working on this project, from 1974 to 1990, most scientists had disregarded her ideas on the interplay of genetics with complex human disease. Genetics had been used in diseases with a single genetic tie, such as Huntington's disease, cystic fibrosis, and sickle-cell anemia, but researchers were skeptical about the use of genetics in the more common diseases caused by multiple genetic factors as well as environmental influences. Additionally, King successfully identified the gene before the Human Genome Project had been fully developed.

Her contribution has been able to inform women of genetic information, which then can aid women in making the choices best for themselves and for their future.[7]

The technique King developed to identify BRCA1 has since proven valuable in the study of many other illnesses. King has built on that research by identifying BRCA2, and extending her technique to other diseases and conditions.[8]

Since 1990, King has been working in collaboration with scientists around the world to identify genetic causes of hearing loss and deafness. They successfully cloned the first non-syndromic deafness-related gene in 1999. King continues to work with scientists Karen Avraham in Israel and Moien Kanaan in the West Bank, modeling international scientific cooperation in conjunction with conducting scientific research. Hereditary deafness is common amongst some endogamous Arab communities, providing good study populations to understand the genetics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary-Claire_King