A new study has found a link between ovarian cancer and a gene on the X chromosome. The finding shows that a father’s genes are an important factor in a woman’s ovarian cancer risk. Researchers discovered that women whose paternal grandmothers had ovarian cancer were twice as likely to develop ovarian cancer themselves as compared with those whose maternal grandmothers had ovarian cancer. This finding is consistent with the theory that the responsible gene was on the X chromosome.
“Ovarian cancer doesn’t have any specific early symptoms… It’s the most lethal gynecologic cancer”
The results of the new study may provide valuable insight into one of the most difficult cancers to identify and diagnose at a treatable stage.
Furthermore, the men who carry the mutated gene are not in the clear themselves. While these men cannot get ovarian cancer, they are significantly more likely to develop other types of cancer, particularly prostate cancer.
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