What can genetic changes that occur in the mother's womb lead to when the child is an adult? Can they lead to cancer later in life and is it possible to avoid it? This and much more will be investigated by researchers at the upcoming K.G.Jebsen Center for Epimutations in Cancer finne ut av.
The K.G.Jebsen Foundation supports the new center for medical research in Bergen. The center will be established in July 2026 and is funded for approximately five years.
The center will research gene changes that occur in early fetal stages, and how these affect the risk of cancer in adulthood. The center is based on a recent breakthrough; researchers in Bergen have found that almost 10% of healthy women have a few cells in their bodies where the so-called BRCA1 gene is misregulated and permanently turned off. The misregulation probably occurs already during the first weeks of fetal life.
Those who have such cells have an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer in adulthood. As many as 20% of the most aggressive cases of breast cancer appear to arise from such cells that are misregulated in utero. The discovery has provided a completely new way of looking at cancer risk and development.
The center that is now being established has two main goals: One goal is to find out why and how such misregulation occurs. The other is to find out whether similar errors can occur in other genes, and thus give rise to a risk for other forms of cancer. One of the first things to be investigated is a gene that can give rise to a risk for both bowel and uterine cancer.
The research center is led by professors Stian Knappskog, Camilla Krakstad and Halfdan Sørbye, and is based at Clinical Institute 2 at the University of Bergen, and the Cancer Clinic and the Women's Clinic at Haukeland University Hospital.
Here is a link to the press release from NTB: https://kommunikasjon.ntb.no/pressemelding/18775430/nytt-kgjebsen-senter-i-bergen-skal-loyse-genetiske-gater?publisherId=17847312&lang=no
CONTACT:
Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Stian Knappskog – Stian.Knappskog@uib.no – 97046719
Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Camilla Krakstad – Camilla.Krakstad@uib.no – 99254140
Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Halfdan Sørbye – halfdan.sorbye@helse-bergen.no -92853862
