A Paper on the Relationship Between the Most Significant Breast Cancer Susceptibility Proteins, Aldehydes, and Prostate Cancer

Although two of the most significant breast cancer susceptibility proteins, BRCA1 and BRCA2, interact with each other in the same DNA damage repair pathway, they react differently when exposed to aldehydes, a specific type of organic compound. Aldehydes have a more significant impact on heterozygous BRCA2 as mutation carriers than heterozygous BRCA1 mutation carriers because they directly interact with the BRCA2 proteins, as opposed to BRCA1 proteins. Workers in the chemical industry, alcohol drinkers, and users of products with aldehydes in them are all at a higher risk of being exposed to aldehydes, specifically formaldehyde. Nihitha's retrospective analysis research paper discusses why the difference between the responses of aldehyde exposure from patients with a heterozygous germline mutation in BRCA2 and BRCA1 leads to a higher risk of prostate cancer in BRCA2 mutant carriers than BRCA1.