Dundee scientists link poverty to breast cancer gene damage

University of Dundee researchers link deprivation with mutation of crucial tumour-suppressing gene

Scientists believe they have established a link between poverty and mutation of a gene which could explain why women from poorer backgrounds are less likely to survive breast cancer.

Researchers believe the reason why women in the lowest socio-economic groups are "significantly more likely" to suffer a relapse and die from breast cancer is that their lifestyle can cause the crucial p53 gene to mutate.

In healthy people, the p53 protein, which suppresses cancer, is continually produced and degraded in cells. But if the gene becomes damaged, or mutates, then the body's ability to suppress tumours is severely reduced, said University of Dundee researchers.

A survey found factors associated with deprivation – including smoking, drinking and an unhealthy diet – could make the p53 mutation more likely.

Dr Lee Baker, of the department of surgery and molecular oncology at the university, said these factors were more common in women from lower socio-economic groups, who were also more likely to experience a recurrence of the disease and to die of breast cancer.

He said of the research: "It shows that if we lift people up the deprivation scale then they will be less likely to have problems with their p53 gene and go on to develop breast cancer … [and] that successfully creating a treatment for p53 mutation will go a long way down the road to finding a cure for this form of breast cancer."

The study, published this month in the British Journal of Cancer, examined tissue from 246 women treated for breast cancer and tested for p53 mutation. It used patients' postcodes to calculate a "deprivation score" and looked at whether they recovered, suffered a relapse or died.