Doctors discover breast cancer breakthrough

Scientists have made a massive leap towards identifying the roots of hereditary breast cancer.

A groundbreaking study picked up new genes which can increase the risk of the disease.

Until now, it was not known which genes cause 75% of inherited breast cancer, which affects thousands of British women every year.

But the Cambridge-based study found four genes that can increase a woman's chances of developing the disease.

They have never previously been linked to inherited breast cancer and are responsible for another 4% of inherited cases, equating to between 88 and 176 women a year.

Scientists believe the discovery is the first step towards finding many more breast cancer genes, and the same research method is already being applied to several other cancers.

Professor Douglas Easton, director of Cancer Research UK's genetic epidemiology unit in Cambridge, said: "We are very excited by these results because the regions we identified don't contain previously known inherited cancer genes. This opens the door to new research directions."

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