Breakthrough
Pan Books (Publisher)
Book
Paperback/Softback
324 pages
978-0-330-33376-4 (ISBN)
Description
Breast cancer is an increasingly serious public health problem. In the UK alone 15,000 women die of it annually. Despite a long list of suspected risk factors, such as dietary fat, oral contraceptives, age of menopause, the root cause of breast cancer remains unknown. But amidst the confusion, a genuine breakthrough is imminent: scientists are poised to take the biggest step yet towards understanding breast cancer. Research shows that women whose mothers and sisters have had the disease are twice as likely to contract it themselves. It would appear the strong genetic component is the best clue to solving the mystery. In a landmark discovery in 1990, a team of US researchers led by a top geneticist, Mary Claire King, traced the location of the crucial gene to one of the 23 pairs of human chromosomes - chromosome 17. Since then, the world's geneticists have joined the search for the gene for breast cancer. The consequences for diagnosis of breast cancer and the development of improved therapies is immeasurable.
An accessible and up-to-date analysis of the research, and a description of the many people involved in it feature in this book, which charts the progress towards this discovery.
An accessible and up-to-date analysis of the research, and a description of the many people involved in it feature in this book, which charts the progress towards this discovery.
More details
Edition
Unabridged edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pan Macmillan
Target group
Interest Age: From 18 years
Edition type
Unabridged edition
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 130 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-330-33376-4 (9780330333764)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification