Talk:BRCA1

Untitled

Hypertechnical, not useful. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 47.144.147.73 (talk) 18:44, 2 September 2018 (UTC)

Faulty gene

Some text in this article was originally taken from http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene=brca1 (public domain)

I altered this article by adding "faulty" into the sentence "Women and men who inherit a copy of this gene...". This is because it is not the gene which causes an increased risk of cancer, but the presence of a faulty copy of the gene. A faulty copy means the gene's tumour-suppressing abilities cannot be expressed.

It is good that at least a stub is present on the BRCA genes. However, it would be best if both of these were extensively modified. As a first pass, I'd like to see the following: 1. Differential between genetic/familial breast csncers in age of onset (BRCA mutations are far more common in early onset disease) 2. Discussion of associated risks including recurrence on the other side, risks to males carrying mutations, and risks to first degree relatives. 3. Discussion of other cancers at increased risk in BRCA mutaion carriers 4. discussion of differences in clinical presentation of BRCA1 vs BRCA2 carriers 5. Increased prevalence of mutations in Ashkenazi jews This is not my specific field, and it would be great for a specialist to edit these.

adding ProteinBoxBot content

Anyone have any thoughts on how/if we should merge the existing infobox with the one generated using the ProteinBoxBot (shown at right)?

An Error has occurred retrieving Wikidata item for infobox

AndrewGNF 22:47, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

I went ahead and replaced the existing protein box with the GNF_Protein_box. The later contained all the information in the former with the exception of information domains and motifs. The the domain and motif information has been included in a new structure section. Cheers. Boghog2 (talk) 18:34, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

Hispanics

JAMA - Hispanics in Northern California have a lot of BRCA1. JFW | T@lk 18:49, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, according to a forward article, those Hispanics are descendents of conversos who fled the Spanish Inquisition. Further, it refers to BCRA1 is a Jewish marker. See http://www.forward.com/articles/how-do-sephardic-jews-figure-into-the-genetic-equa/ Mulp (talk) 04:11, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Demographic distribution

The prevalence rates in different parts of the world, and among different ethnicities, should be stated on the article. F W Nietzsche (talk) 16:09, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

Interactions

May I suggest that section be turned into a table? E.g. BRCA1 is know to interact with a number of molecules. They are: etc...Calaka (talk) 03:02, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Some of the interactions have been controversial (BRCA1 interacting with Xist comes to mind). Perhaps going over the list is in order.--Pjlmac (talk) 14:07, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Yikes, what a mess. I second changing it to a table, and perhaps reviewing it (does each one really need 6 or 7 references?) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.73.155.40 (talk) 06:42, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

I have converted the interaction list into a bulleted list and wrapped in a {{div col}} template specifying a fixed column width such that the number of columns dynamically adjusts to the width of the browser window. Does it look OK now? Boghog (talk) 21:17, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

This article would be easier to read and edit if we move this list of interactions (and their many references) to a separate article (BRCA1 interactions ?) ? Rod57 (talk) 14:45, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

I am not sure that spliting out an interaction article is a good idea. For one thing, this creates extra work in creating and maintaining the new article with little if any benefit. One of the justifications for adding lists of known protein-protein interactions to Gene Wiki pages was to reduce the number of orphan articles. BRCA1 is an extreme example that interacts with many other proteins. The interaction section is confined to its own section in the article, therefore I don't see how including this section in the BRCA1 article interferes with editing of the rest of the article. The readability problem may be a problem, especially when viewing with Internet Explorer before version 8 where the list is not displayed in columns. The reference list on the other hand is very long. This could be condensed somewhat by grouping citation and perhaps restricting the citation to review articles. Boghog (talk) 20:28, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

A general discussion of this topic is found at: Portal:Gene_Wiki/Discussion#Split_out_Interactions. Mikael Häggström (talk) 06:29, 15 May 2011 (UTC)

breast cancer

I have a lump behind my nipple which very painful itchy, and leaking substance. I have already had 1 course of antibiotics and it hasnt cleared, could this be just an abyss or breast cancer —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kazzies123 (talk • contribs) 21:37, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

Create BRCA_mutations_overview?

I am contemplating creating something like that for following purposes:

• easy entry/link point for articles such as breast cancer
• gathering epidemiologic and treatment relevant information as much of the available publications deal with all variants or do not distinguish them
• giving pointers to stuff like jewish ashkenazi inteligence theory that would seem somewhat offtopic in either BRCA1/2 articles

Thoughts? Richiez (talk) 14:30, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

User:Mikael Häggström was quicker and created BRCA mutation :) Richiez (talk) 20:27, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

Virus Regulation Help?

Frank Ryan claims in Virolution, p. 142, that endogenous retroviral sequences help in the expression of BRCA-1 (and other human genes). Supposedly demonstrated by a Roy J Britten in 1996. Not sure if this useful in this context, though.

Effect on Gene Testing Edit

I am adjusting the wording in the 3rd paragraph of the "Effect on Gene Testing" section because it is lacking depth and, more importantly, citations.

The old paragraph read:

"However, the patents have yet to be enforced in Europe, where BRCA research and testing is becoming more widely available, and several laboratories are currently offering their own BRCA testing. The UK firm NewGene offers the test at a very competitive price, to the NHS, its owner, only."

The new Paragraph will read:

"However, the patents have yet to be enforced in Europe, where BRCA research and testing is becoming more widely available, and several laboratories are currently using their own genetic tests rather than pay expensive fees to Myriad. Controversial issues surrounding European laboratories operating in violation to Myriad’s patents are absent because it seems that Myriad is not interested in actively enforcing their patents in Europe. Peter Meldrum, CEO of Myriad Genetics, affirms his stance that Myriad has “other competitive advantages that may make such [patent] enforcement unnecessary.” Jwalkfour (talk) 04:28, 9 December 2012 (UTC)

Sourcing

just a heads up... there are way too many primary science papers used as sources for this article. It looks like a scientific review article instead of a wikipedia article. As per WP:PSTS secondary and tertiary sources are "go to" - primary sources are "to be avoided". I am going to try to scrape together some time to properly source this doggy.Jytdog (talk) 21:54, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

I think secondary sources are more critical for the clinical parts of this article (Mutations and cancer risk and Germ line mutations and founder effect) than the scientific (gene, function, structure, interactions) (compare WP:MEDRS with WP:SCIRS). Please keep in mind that a secondary source is not automatically better than a primary source (e.g., a superficial review article published in an obscure journal vs a highly cited primary source in a peer reviewed journal). Of course, if relevant high quality review articles published in high impact journals are available, those should be used in preference to primary sources. Boghog (talk) 05:42, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

Thanks BogHog. I will source it well - we have no need to get into a pre-fight. Quick note, though. WP:SCIRS is an essay, not a policy or guideline. The policies in WP:PSTS govern sourcing in all articles; the guidelines in WP:MEDRS are within WP:PSTS and add additional requirements to WP:PSTS. I'm guessing that one reason that WP:SCIRS only has essay status is because of the way it would promote primary sources beyond what policy allows.Jytdog (talk) 14:02, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

Agree with Boghog - MEDRS is relevant for the clinical aspects but much less for underlying biology or etiology and pathogenesis sections. Even for the clinical aspects we need primary sources from time to time. Secondary sources are preferred but not when they are clearly outdated or insufficient. The clinical aspects should be in BRCA mutation though. Richiez (talk) 23:27, 26 February 2013 (UTC).

This is really not the place to have a sourcing debate; nor is it time yet b/c I haven't done anything. I will apply WP:PSTS and we will see what happens!Jytdog (talk) 23:55, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

Just FYI, it wasn't me who deleted that citation. :) Jytdog (talk) 13:51, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

That is clear. :-) Boghog (talk) 14:02, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

Interactions list

I think that the Interactions list would look better without commas at the end, see Manual of Style for bulleted lists, if the items on the bulleted list aren't sentences then they aren't necessary Mightyhansa (talk) 23:40, 3 January 2015 (UTC)

According to MOS:BULLETLIST, As a matter of style, list items should ... not have final punctuation unless they consist of complete sentences. The entire interaction list is a complete sentence (albeit a very long one). Also per Bulleted Lists, it is traditional to include a comma at the end of each fragment of a bulleted list. Boghog (talk) 00:17, 4 January 2015 (UTC)

Is reference to the APA style guidelines irrelevant here? Thousands of organisations have their own style manuals, with differing rules for bullet punctuation, but for Wikipedia content, surely only Wikipedia style manual should be consulted? The 'complete sentence' element of the wikipedia guidelines is refering to individual items within the whole list. None of the individual items in this list are complete sentences, so my interpretation of Wikipedia style is that no final punctuation is required. If this section is indeed one complete sentence, then should it not be written in continuous prose form with the necessary punctuation to seperate the list items? It is much easier for the reader to digest the list in its current bulleted form, this is also why I removed the final punctuation without consultation, because I felt they didn't help the reader in evaulating the list as well as being contrary to Wikipedia style. This isn't a massive deal, I'm sure the article will survive either way, it was only because a message was left on my user talk page, which I felt was better discussed here. Mightyhansa (talk) 21:30, 5 January 2015 (UTC)

Sorry for being so insistent here, but the Wikipedia and APA style guides are in complete agreement. To reiterate, the Wikipedia guideline states unless they consist of complete sentences. The entire interaction list is a complete sentence. Boghog (talk) 22:37, 5 January 2015 (UTC)

For background, the original list was added as a single comma delimited sentence here. I then converted this sentence to a bulleted list preserving the commas in this edit. Boghog (talk) 23:00, 5 January 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia guidelines do indeed state unless they consist of complete sentences, but this is refering to list items. The individual items in this list are not complete sentences, just abbreviations, ergo, they don't need to have final punctuation. In the same section of the MOS, the examples provided also do not have final punctuation. Mightyhansa (talk) 22:14, 6 January 2015 (UTC)

Oncogene or Tumorsuppressorgene?

The introduction states BRCA1 is a proto-oncogene. To my knowledge however it is a tumor suppressor gene. This is also stated in the german version of this article.

A proto oncogen is defined as inducing tumor when activated. A tumor suppressor gene is preventing tumorigenesis as long as it is active.

Can anyone else comment on that? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.246.2.54 (talk) 08:46, 23 March 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for your note. The first paragraph of this article also states that BRCA1 us a tumor suppressor gene. The second paragraph doesn't state that BRCA1 is a proto-oncogene, but rather BRCA1 has been described as a breast cancer susceptibility gene. So far so good as there are reliable sources that support that claim (e.g., PMID 9653432). The paragraph then goes on to state that cancer susceptibility genes in turn have been described as proto-oncogenes and then disputes this claim (first introduced in this edit). To me, this sounds like a straw man argument. As far as I can tell, a cancer susceptibility gene are not restricted to proto-oncogenes (where gain of function mutations cause cancer) but also include tumor suppressor genes (where loss of function mutations cause cancer). This makes for rather confusing reading and should be simplified. Boghog (talk) 09:51, 23 March 2017 (UTC)

I have tried to remove the confusion in this edit. I hope it is clearer now. Boghog (talk) 10:35, 23 March 2017 (UTC)

link to brcaexchange.org

Please see Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Molecular_and_Cell_Biology#brcaexchange.org -- Jytdog (talk) 19:38, 11 July 2017 (UTC)

Risk graphic

The UniProt database on P38398_1 (see ref. 28) states:"Mutations in BRCA1 are thought to be responsible for 45% of inherited breast cancer. Moreover, BRCA1 carriers have a 4-fold increased risk of colon cancer, whereas male carriers face a 3-fold increased risk of prostate cancer." The range given in the graphic is 50% to 65% (for females). It should be OBVIOUS that if 45% of *inherited* BC is caused by inherited BRCA1 mutations, then it is simply *impossible* that the entire "absolute risk" is greater. (Males' risk is 1/800 and can be ignored here). It's a huge flaw that the graphic mentions ovarian cancer but ignores colorectal cancer (4th most common, 2nd most fatal). (Uterine and pancreatic cancers are 8th & 9th in frequency (US Data)). The basic problem I have with the graphic is that there's likely to be 100's or 1000's of gene variants, some of which will be very dangerous, some of which may be protective. That is, the range of absolute risk should include 0% (and relative risk possibly negative). I think the current graphic should be removed and a better one used, if one can be found.40.142.183.146 (talk) 22:07, 25 June 2023 (UTC)

Discovery

"The first evidence for the existence of a gene encoding a DNA repair enzyme involved in breast cancer susceptibility was provided by Mary-Claire King's laboratory at UC Berkeley in 1990." That is incorrect. In 1990, King had only determined the location of the gene, not its function. It took years to identify the gene, thanks to significant investments that needed to be recovered by Myriad Genetics. However, the main option offered to women carrying the mutation was monitoring through mammography. When it was later discovered that the gene was involved in repairing DNA damage caused by X-rays, it was too late, and Myriad’s revenues were protected by a series of biased articles denying the cancer risk associated with mammograms. Topinhamburg (talk) 06:26, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

Both Mary-Claire King and Myriad used essentially the same method to locate the gene, and both methods involved knowing the function ("cause breast cancer") and using that to map the position of BRCA1. Mary-Claire King's team found the position first, but somewhat imprecisely (akin to saying that the Empire State Building is in Manhattan in New York City). Myriad got the precise position (akin to saying that the Empire State Building is at 20 W 34th St., New York, NY 10001). Both teams spent significant resources; whether or not they needed to recover their expenses is a matter of debate, but it seems fair that both should, as their efforts both highly benefitted society. IMHO, Myriad happened to get luckier sooner - by the time the mapping race got down to the finest ("street level") scale, it was a matter of grabbing and characterizing clones at random. So the statement in question is incorrect, as you say but not quite incorrect in the way you write. I'll try an edit to bridge the concern. Jaredroach (talk) 14:48, 22 October 2024 (UTC)