LETTER TO JMG

Non-random transmission of mutant alleles to female offspring of BRCA1 carriers in Poland

J Gronwald¹, B Gorski¹, T Byrski¹, T Huzarski¹, A Jakubowska¹, J Menkiszak², S A Narod³, J Lubinski¹

¹ Hereditary Cancer Center, Department of Genetics and Pathology, Pomeranian Medical Academy, Szczecin, Poland
² Clinic of Surgical Gynecology and Gynecological Oncology of Adults and Adolescents, Pomeranian Medical Academy, Szczecin, Poland
³ Centre for Research in Womens Health, Sunnybrook and Womens’ College Health Sciences Center, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
S A Narod, Centre for Research in Women’s Health, Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Center, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5G 1N8 Canada;
steven.narod@sw.ca

Keywords: BRCA1; gamete selection; genetic counselling; inheritance

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Constitutional mutations in the BRCA1 gene predispose to an autosomal dominant syndrome of breast and ovarian cancer. The lifetime penetrance of BRCA1 gene mutations is high; approximately 50% of women with mutations will be affected by cancer by the age of 50 years, and over 80% of women with mutations will be affected with cancer by the age of 75 years.¹ At birth, it is expected that 50% of the children of a carrier parent will inherit a mutant allele. If the mortality in carriers is higher in carriers than in non-carriers, then the proportion of carriers among offspring is expected to decline with age. Similarly, among unaffected women, the proportion of carriers is expected to decline with age. For example, if the gene is 50% penetrant by by the age of 50 years, then one third of a sample of healthy 50 year old female offspring of carriers are . . . [Full text of this article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Agnese, D M (2006). Battle of the BRCA1/BRCA2 (offspring) sex ratios: truth or consequences. J. Med. Genet. 43: 201-202 [Full Text]  
• Gronwald, J, Byrski, T, Huzarski, T, Narod, S A, Lubinski, J (2005). Transmission of mutant alleles to female offspring of BRCA1 carriers in Poland. J. Med. Genet. 42: e40-e40 [Full Text]  
• Evans, D G, Shenton, A, Sharif, S, Woodward, E, Lalloo, F, Maher, E R (2005). Non-random transmission of mutant alleles to female offspring in BRCA carriers. J. Med. Genet. 42: e6-e6 [Full Text]