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Icelandic women who had a pair of faulty genes were almost certain to develop breast cancer, researchers in Reykjavik found.
It's not clear to what degree that finding applies to women from other countries, the Associated Press reported.
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Defects on two genes discovered in the 1990s -- BRCA1 and BRCA2 -- have been linked to inherited forms of breast cancer. But since they account for only 10 percent to 15 percent of total breast cancer cases, scientists have long searched for a genetic accomplice, the wire service said.
The BARD1 gene may be just that, according to the AP.
Women's risk of developing breast cancer roughly doubled when they were found to have mutations in both the BARD1 and BRCA2 genes, the Icelandic scientists said. In the United States, however, the genetic mutation in the BRCA1 gene is more common than the BRCA2 anomaly, according to the wire service.
The research, led by the company deCode Genetics Inc., included 1,090 Icelandic women with breast cancer, comparing them to 703 women who were free of the disease. Results are published in the journal PLoS Medicine.
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