Alan Ashworth and Pamela Munster head the UCSF Center for BRCA Research. Photo by Elisabeth Fall.
from the Wall Street Journal, Feb 23, 2016:
A new clinic in San Francisco is opening with an unusual mission: to provide care for people affected by mutations in two particular genes linked to a high risk of cancer. The move highlights the ways growing knowledge about the genetics of the disease is reshaping care for patients.
A new clinic in San Francisco is opening with an unusual mission: to provide care for people affected by mutations in two particular genes linked to a high risk of cancer. The move highlights the ways growing knowledge about the genetics of the disease is reshaping care for patients.
The clinic, at University of California, San Francisco, will treat patients with abnormalities in the genes known as BRCA1 and BRCA2. The mutations are widely recognized as inheritable causes of breast and ovarian cancers. Less well known is that they also heighten risk of pancreatic, prostate and some other cancers and thus affect both men and women. Clinic leaders say such a varied patient population can best be served with a dedicated clinic providing a comprehensive approach to both research and treatment.