There are likely to be specific elements in the genetic profile of Irish women that predispose them to certain breast cancers, according to the director of the National Breast Cancer Research Institute (NBCRI).
Prof Michael Kerin said researchers at the Galway-based institute had been looking at the genetic profile of 1,000 Irish women with breast cancer and comparing it with the genetic profile of a similar number of older Irish women who never had breast cancer.
He said the study was not yet complete, but the indications were its findings would be significant.
"In our own assessment of the situation, we have found individual changes in the Irish population that are related to breast cancer," he said.
He added the researchers had looked at specific areas of the genome when making their comparisons.
"What we've done is we've targeted individual areas that are likely to prove responsive, such as the CHEK2 gene, and we have identified specific issues in the Irish population in relation to that that corroborate some other work that's being done internationally. But also at the moment we are targeting areas of novel change that I think will show differences in the Irish population relative to other international populations," he said.
Prof Kerin was speaking on his arrival in Dublin for a major fundraising event for the NBCRI.
His comments come just days after scientists involved in an international study reported having found four more genes that can, if faulty, predict if a woman is at increased risk of developing breast cancer.
Asked about this new research, published in the scientific journal Nature, Prof Kerin said: "It's very difficult to tell the exact significance of that right now but what it has clearly shown is that these changes confer an increased risk for women to inherited breast cancer. Whether or not they will be able to be targeted or whether new treatments come off them is too early to say."
He said the major issue now in terms of breast cancer treatment is to individualise therapies. "We now know that there are very many different types of breast cancer. There are at least six different types based on the genetic profile and one of the key issues now is to target and individualise therapies for women based on the kind of breast cancer they have," he said.
"In an effort to individualise treatment, what we are doing is we are growing some cells from individual people's breast cancer in the laboratory to address what individual therapies they respond to."