In 1990, she found that breast cancer — which kills more than 500,000 women worldwide every year — can, in fact, be inherited. Professor King identified the gene, BRCA1, which when mutant leads to a lifetime risk of breast cancer of 80% and ovarian cancer of 50%. “I would like to convey to women that knowledge is power,” Professor King, a vocal advocate of genetic screening for breast and ovarian cancer risk for women over 30, told The Hindu here on Sunday. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in India, but genetic screening, at Rs. In the weeks following actor Angelina Jolie’s article in the New York Times announcing her decision to have a double mastectomy as she found that she carried a BRCA1 mutation, there was a 64% spike in genetic screening.

Source: The Hindu February 19, 2017 18:45 UTC