Researchers from Imperial College London and the Human Genetics Foundation (HuGeF) in Torino, Italy, found that DNA methylation levels in blood cells were associated with breast cancer risk.
DNA methylation is the process by which methyl groups are added to the DNA, modifying its function and regulating how much of a gene gets made into proteins, something that is essential for normal cell development.
The researchers took blood samples from healthy women who were then monitored for an average period of around nine years. During this period, the women who developed breast cancer had a lower level of DNA methylation in their white blood cells, compared to the women who didn't develop the disease.
The team's findings confirmed a growing body of evidence suggesting that lower than normal methylation of white blood cell DNA could be predictive of a heightened breast cancer risk.
By Ruchi Singh
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
