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Cancer Risks Associated with BRCA1 and BRCA2 Pathogenic Variants

Writer: Women's Cancer Research FoundationWomen's Cancer Research Foundation

Updated: Jan 12, 2024


Cancer Research

In a recent study, age-specific risk estimates of cancers, excluding breast and ovarian cancer, associated with pathogenic variants (a genetic condition that is known to raise the probability of developing a disease) in BRCA1 and BRCA2 were evaluated.


The researchers used data from 3,184 BRCA1 and 2,157 BRCA2 families to conduct the research.

  • BRCA1 pathologic variants were associated with risks of male breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and stomach cancer.

  • BRCA2 pathogenic variants were associated with a risk for male breast, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, and prostate cancer.


The risk for stomach cancer was higher for females than males and the cumulative risks to adults, age 80 years, for a pathologic variant ranged from 0.4% for male breast cancer to approximately 2.5% for pancreatic cancer for BRCA1 carriers and from approximately 2.5% for pancreatic cancer to 27% for prostate cancer for BRCA2 carriers. In addition to female breast and ovarian cancers, BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathologic variants are associated with an increased risk for male breast, pancreatic, stomach, and prostate cancers, which may present significant clinical implications for cancer risk management in men and women with a BRCA1/2 pathologic variant.


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