To date the following number of participants have contributed to our research:
- 15,500 women with breast cancer
- 200 men with breast cancer
- 4,800 men and women with bowel cancer
- 4,700 men with prostate cancer
- 3,600 women with ovarian cancer
- 2,800 men and women with melanoma
- 3,500 women with uterine cancer
- 3,400 control participants
- 1,000 men and women with other cancers
Some of the research findings are:
-
Abnormalities in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes were found in fewer than 2% of a subset of samples from women participating in the breast study. In comparison, abnormalities in these genes were found in approximately 8% of men in the study. For ovarian cancer, abnormalities in BRCA1 or BRCA2 were found in fewer than 3% of a subset of samples from women in the study.
-
Family history of cancer contributes to 12.5% of cases with breast cancer, 20% of cases with bowel cancer, 10% of cases with ovarian cancer and 15% of cases with uterine cancer.
-
We have also investigated over 70 possible low risk genes for breast cancer and 15 genes for ovarian cancer.