Breast cancer: genetic personal risk factors: A review

Abstract

Determination of cancer risk factors allow us to develop diagnostics tests that improved identification and reduced the rate of mortality of most frequent cancer diseases including breast cancer, prostate cancer, gastrointestinal tumors. Today individual risk of breast cancer considers personal genetics, medical history of patient, lifestyle, and a number of additional factors. Calculation of the first mathematical models for breast cancer risk assessment included anthropometric data, hormonal status, and family history of cancer. The discovery of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes role in the development of breast cancer and the accumulation of data from population studies contributed to the introduction of the genetic component into mathematical models. The trend of the last decade is the integration of the polygenic component into the scheme for calculating the individual risk of breast cancer. In this review, we have analyzed existing models, assessed their relevance for certain groups of patients, studied the trends in the development of methods for molecular genetic diagnosis of breast cancer and determining the personal risk of developing the disease.

Keywords

• hereditary breast cancer
• individual cancer risk, genetic factors
• brca1
• brca2
• cumulative risk
• polygenic risk models