A low-dose ionizing diagnostic radiation to the chest at young age may increase risk of breast cancer in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers

The Gene-Rad-Risk study reports that ionizing radiation delivered in the course of diagnostic procedures to the chest before age 30 may increase breast cancer risk in women who carry a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene. “We observed increased risks of breast cancer among BRCA1/2 mutation carriers at dose levels considerably lower than those at which increases have been found in other radiation-exposed cohorts. This is not entirely unexpected, though, because BRCA carriers, due to impaired DNA repair mechanisms, may be more susceptible to the damage caused by low-dose ionizing radiation than other women,” said Dr Ausrele Kesminiene, the coordinator of the Gene-Rad-Risk study. Read more here.

Study mentioned: Pijpe A, et al. Exposure to diagnostic radiation and risk of breast cancer among carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations: retrospective cohort study (GENE-RAD-RISK) BMJ 2012;345:e5660