ATM gene may increase hereditary risk for pancreatic cancer

New data, published in Cancer Discovery, has found that mutations in the ATM gene may increase the hereditary risk for pancreatic cancer.

Using genome and whole exome analysis, Alison Klein Ph.D., and colleagues were able to identify ATM gene mutations in two kindreds with familial pancreatic cancer. When these initial findings were examined in a large series for patients, ATM mutations were present in four of 166 subjects with pancreatic cancer but were absent in 190 spousal control subsets.

This knowledge could lead to better screening for pancreatic cancer, which is widely recognised as being one of the most morbid cancers, with less than five per cent of those diagnosed surviving to five years.

Lead author Dr Klein commented that: "There was significant reason to believe this clustering was due to genetics, but we had not, to this point, been able to find the causative genes that explained the cluster of pancreatic cancer for a majority of these families."