BRCA1 /2 mutations, fertility and the grandmother effect

BRCA1/2 mutations, fertility and the grandmother effect.

Effects of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations on female fertility.

Women with BRCA1/2 mutations have a significantly higher lifetime risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. We suggest that female mutation carriers may have improved fitness owing to enhanced fertility relative to non-carriers. Here we show that women who are carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations living in natural fertility conditions have excess fertility as well as excess post-reproductive mortal...

The Grandmother Effect

Two classes of explanation have been advanced to explain women’s long post-menopausal life span – that it is an epiphenomenon of increased longevity or an evolved adaptation. While there is no decisive evidence to choose between them, the latter appears more likely. Two mechanisms for the evolved adaptation have been proposed, the ‘mother effect’ and the ‘grandmother effect’. It is argued that ...

The importance of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes mutations in breast cancer development

Many factors including genetic, environmental, and acquired are involved in breast cancer development across various societies. Among all of these factors in families with a history of breast cancer throughout several generations, genetics, like predisposing genes to develop this disease, should be considered more. Early detection of mutation carriers in these genes, in turn, can play an import...

Cancer risks for men with BRCA1/2 mutations.