Autophagy gene haploinsufficiency drives chromosome instability, increases migration, and promotes early ovarian tumors

What is it about?

The genetics behind why ovarian tumors form remain unknown. Only a few familial cancer genes are known. In this paper, the authors establish of the first time that a cellular recycling gene, BECN1, is directly responsible for allowing tumors to form when the gene becomes suppressed. This surpasses previous literature which showed association with tumor formation, and was the first to show a causal relationship in ovarian cancer.

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Photo by Accuray on Unsplash

Photo by Accuray on Unsplash

Why is it important?

While many families know that their BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation predisposes them to breast and ovarian cancer, some families do not know why they have family history of particular cancer types. BECN1 is not often mutated like BRCA1 or BRCA2 is. However, one of the first things that happens in cancer development is chromosome instability. In this paper, BECN1 suppression mimicking a loss of a chromosome was shown to be sufficient to yield higher predisposition to cancer, which helps us understand how cancers, particularly ovarian cancers, develop.