Brca1, Brca1

In the nucleus of many types of normal cells, the BRCA1 protein is thought to interact indirectly with RAD51 during repair of DNA double-strand breaks, though the details and significance of this interaction is the subject of debate.

Women who have an abnormal BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene have up to an 85% risk of developing breast cancer by age 70; increased risk of developing ovarian cancer is about 55% for women with BRCA1 mutations and about 25% for women with BRCA2 mutations.

Researchers believe that the defective BRCA1 protein is unable to help fix mutations that occur in other genes. These defects accumulate and may allow cells to grow and divide uncontrollably to form a tumor.

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