Mutations in ATM, Radiation Exposure and Breast Cancer Risk Among Black and White Women.

In some families, predisposition to breast cancer is inherited as a genetic trait. Thus far, a few highly penetrant genes responsible for inherited breast cancer have been identified. An important and unresolved question of breast cancer etiology is whether there are other genes which have a more moderate effect on breast cancer risk, possibly involving more women than do other inherited mutations. It has been suggested that mutations in the Ataxia- Telangiectasia gene ATh and cellular damage such as radiation exposure could be involved with breast cancer in this manner. In order to address this question, we are screening a population-based series of African-American and Caucasian breast cancer patients and controls as well as a series of patients with particular phenotypes for mutations in the ATM gene. This study will detect potential mutations in the ATh gene which confer breast cancer risk.