Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have discovered five genetic mutations linked to a high risk of triple-negative breast cancer, and the finding should help doctors treat the aggressive form of cancer.
Their study was published Monday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The researchers looked at the genetic panels of nearly 11,000 patients who had been diagnosed with the form of cancer, and they found five genetic mutations — BARD1, BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, and RAD51D — that were associated with triple-negative breast cancer. The course of treatment for this type of cancer is typically extensive chemotherapy, and it still has a lower five-year survival rate than other kinds of breast cancer, the researchers said.
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