In addition, two middle regions (exons 8 and 13) of BRCA1 gene were investigated for the presence of mutation. The majorities of mutations, known to be disease-causing, consist of small frame shift deletions, small insertions and nonsense

or splice site mutations, which all result in a truncated protein. Because of the lack of known structure-function relationships, only truncating mutations are usable for medical management of carrier individuals [14]. In the current study four truncating mutations and one missense mutation were detected among the majority of the studied patients and in more Selleck CA4P than half of their asymptomatic first degree female relatives. The truncating mutations were three frame shift mutations and one nonsense mutation. All mutations were repeated in 6 or more families. The recurrent mutations were found in all (100%) families with detected mutations. This selleck compound finding is similar to the study of Corski et al. [32],

which found recurrent mutations in 93% of families with detected mutations. The first studied founder mutation in the current study was the frame shift mutation 185 del AG in exon 2 of BRCA1 gene. It was identified in 10% of families selleck (index cases and their asymptomatic relatives). This mutation was detected with high frequency in Ashkenazi Jews [33], in two Spanish families [34], in 3 of 4 families with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry in France [35] and in non-Ashkenazi groups across the middle east, Turkey, England, Iran, Asia and India [33, 36]. The second studied founder mutation in BRCA1 gene is a frame shift mutation in exon 22 (5454 del C). It is recently detected in 16.7% Filipino patients and their asymptomatic relatives

[28]. The knowledge about this mutation is limited [29]. The third studied founder mutation in BRCA2 gene is the frame shift (5-base deletion) mutation in exon 9 (999 del 5). This mutation is recurrent and proposed as an ancient founder mutation. It has been identified as a strong founder in Iceland [37, 38]. Also it was identified in Finnish breast cancer families [39], which may reflect ancient genetic relationships between European populations. Other BRCA2 founder mutations in ID-8 other exons have been reported in Filipino patients [28], and in Jewish patients [40]. In the present study, BRCA2 mutation is frequently repeated among different families (26.7%) in both patients and their relatives, suggesting a founder effect in our population. The presence of this mutation is not limited to those patients having a positive family history of the disease. Some patients carrying this mutation have negative family history. Failure to identify family history may be attributed to small family size and young relatives. For BRCA2, a study [39] has provided evidence that mutation in a ~3.