tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post75524449900410617..comments2024-02-29T03:57:00.088-05:00Comments on The Mermaid's Tale: Is cancer just bad luck? Part I. Known risk factors are poor predictorsAnne Buchananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-41172836749627791072015-01-05T09:47:30.161-05:002015-01-05T09:47:30.161-05:00Thanks for this information. It's not surpris...Thanks for this information. It's not surprising to learn these things, as they seem consistent with what happens every time we look more closely at a subject! Interesting to me is that while I believe the BRCA genes are ubiquitously expressed, they are really only closely associated with a few tumors. As they are supposed to be mutation-repair genes, one would expect more effects, and that seems to point to other genes playing fundamental roles, or something like that. Also, many tissues have hugely more cells than breast ductal tissue (not to mention Fallopian tubes or ovaries) so why are those tissues so vulnerable? Interesting, whatever the answer.Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-69084261065321371842015-01-05T08:25:59.283-05:002015-01-05T08:25:59.283-05:00One thing that we have gleaned from the BRCA muta...One thing that we have gleaned from the BRCA mutation carriers is the idea that the group of diseases commonly referred to as ovarian cancer probably do not arise in the ovaries. This is not the final word. It is still a work in progress, but when those women began to have their tubes and ovaries removed prophylactically, we began finding tiny primaries in the tubes, not the ovaries, so the serous carcinomas, the disease associated with BRCA mutations, probably arise in the Fallopian tubes. The other common diseases previously included in ovarian cancer are now suspected to arise in endometriosis and thus the endometrium.<br /><br />While "ovarian cancer" is still a phrase in common usage, even amongst physicians, it is probably a misnomer.Michael Finfer, MDnoreply@blogger.com