For decades, menopause has been overlooked. But the debate has grown, and experts are increasingly investigating its mechanisms and health effects. Now, new research has discovered four genes with some of the largest known effects on the timing of menopause, shedding light on the link between the timing of menopause and cancer risk.
This is according to research published in Nature The genes come in pairs, and when women have only one functional copy of the four newly identified genes (ETAA1, ZNF518A, PNPLA8, PALB2), they appear to enter menopause two and a half to five years earlier than average.
The Role of Genetic Variations in Menopause
The researchers first looked at the variation in genetic sequencing data from 106,973 postmenopausal women from the UK Biobank study. They focused on rare types of genetic changes and studied their effects on when menopause occurs.
The genetic changes studied are all rare in the population, but their effect on menopause is five times greater than the effect of any previously identified common genetic variation.
The strongest effect was linked to genetic variants of the ZNF518A gene, found in only one in 4,000 women. These variants reduced reproductive lifespan more than the rest of the previously identified genes.
By uncovering the effects of these genes, researchers will be able to better understand the biological mechanisms underlying menopause and how it may be linked to various diseases, such as cancer.
What is the relationship between menopause and cancer?
According to the researchers, the speed at which the eggs are lost is crucial. when women enter menopause. In their previous study, they found that many genes that influence the timing of menopause likely do so by influencing the genetic integrity of eggs.
The same factors can influence other cells and tissue types, too, and in this new study they found that many of the genes associated with the timing of menopause also appear to be cancer risk factors.
These factors include changes in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which cause early menopause and also an increased risk of cancer.
Additionally, changes in the SAMHD1 gene can delay menopause by a year compared to the average. Researchers have also discovered for the first time that changes in this gene may be linked to a predisposition to various types of cancer in both women and men.
“Previous research shows that ovaries age at a faster rate than other organs in the body, providing a model system for understanding the biology of aging in general.
Our latest research builds on this idea, demonstrating that studying ovarian aging will not only lead to a better understanding of the biology underlying infertility and other reproductive disorders, but will improve our understanding of the fundamental processes that regulate DNA damage. the risk of cancer in the population,” explains Dr John Perry, co-head of the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge.