and others are the clogging and cramming of the system (American Cancer Society, 1999: 10). Recently genes have been named as a great cause of cancer. It now is thought in the medical community that while there are definite environmental contributors to cancer, even those people who are exposed to few carcinogens may suffer from disease that runs in their families. Among the genes that are being heavily researched is the gene BRCA1 (Case Studies). In one of the preliminary studies of this particular gene, over 250 Jewish women were discovered to have mutations in this germ-line allele, which is a version of the trait that is passed to the offspring through the germ line cell (or gamete). This accounts for approximately 13% of all breast cancer patients observed. Jewish women in specific were used, as early on there was a definite pattern of breast cancer through the Jewish community especially that which lived in the United States. The specific mutation, 185delAG, was, "strongly associated with the onset of breast cancer in Jewish women before the age of 30." Scientists advanced upon this new information of genealogical interplay, so the "New England Journal of Medicine" (NEJM) set out determined to study the overall effects of these genes. In an article printed on January 18, 1996, germ-line alterations in BRCA1 were discovered in six of the 80 women surveyed who had breast cancer but had no apparent familial history of it. Thus the scientists concluded that mutation was not limited to women with a history of cancer. Genes are thought to cause five to twenty percent of all breast cancers. A gene known as p53 supposedly stalls reproduction of cells, and can even cause a cell to "commit suicide". Other genes that seem to accelerate growth to overtake and stick to proteins include HER2, neu, and erB2 (Fitzgerald et al, 1996). The relation between serum estrogen levels at a single time is linked to breast cancer, but no evidence links es...
