Orkney gene variant linked to cancer risk

One in 100 people who have grandparents from Orkney have a gene variant that causes a higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, a study has found.

The news was made public this Thursday evening, March 16, as a public meeting begins in Westray to discuss the island’s specific link to research.

Published in the European Journal of Human Genetics, leading geneticists from the Universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh have linked a variant in the gene BRCA1 to a historic origin in Westray, Orkney.

Orcadian geneticist Professor Jim Flett Wilson is set to share details of these findings in a public talk with the community in Westray.

He will be joined at the Grand Owld Byre, Chalmersquoy, by Zosia Miedzybrodzka, Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Aberdeen.

The event, which begins at 7.30pm, will also have a genetic counsellor in attendance to assist with queries from those concerned about their link to the variant.

Planning is underway for a small pilot trial organised by NHS Grampian and funded by local cancer charity Friends of ANCHOR, that will offer testing for the gene variant to anyone living in Westray with a Westray-born grandparent, regardless of a family history.

If the pilot is successful, the long-term aim is to offer the test to everyone in Scotland with a Westray-born grandparent who wants it.

NHS Grampian genetics clinic is running a helpline for queries about the gene variant linked to breast and ovarian cancer for those who have grandparents from Orkney. The number to call is 01224 553940.

Further details on this discovery, its impact, and the support being offered to those affected in next week’s edition of The Orcadian.