In response to research published in Genome Medicine, and part-funded by Breast Cancer Now, which suggests drugs that neutralise progesterone activity could be a potential risk-reducing treatment for women with altered BRCA genes, Dr Kotryna Temcinaite, Senior Research Communications Manager at Breast Cancer Now, said:
“Of the 55,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK each year, around 5% of cases are caused by an inherited altered gene, which includes BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
“These exciting early research findings suggest drugs that neutralise progesterone activity could be a potential risk-reducing treatment for women with altered BRCA genes.
"Women with an altered BRCA1 gene are more at risk of triple negative breast cancer, which is harder to treat, so to be able to stop it developing would be hugely beneficial.
"We look forward to seeing further research, to establish how viable this treatment could be and to better understand the potential side effects.
“We encourage women to discuss their treatment options with their healthcare team.
"Anyone affected by breast cancer can also speak to Breast Cancer Now’s expert nurses by calling our free Helpline on 0808 800 6000 for information and support.”