Which genes are primarily recognized as tumor suppressor genes in breast cancer?

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are primarily recognized as tumor suppressor genes in breast cancer because they play a crucial role in repairing damaged DNA and maintaining the stability of a cell's genetic material. Mutations in these genes can lead to an increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers, as they impair the body's ability to correct DNA errors that may lead to tumor formation.

These genes are particularly significant because they serve as indicators for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome. When functioning normally, BRCA1 and BRCA2 proteins are essential for the homologous recombination repair pathway, which is a critical mechanism for fixing double-strand breaks in DNA. When either of these genes is mutated, the DNA repair process can become defective, contributing to the development of tumors.

Other gene choices refer to important factors in cancer biology but do not primarily function as tumor suppressor genes in the context of breast cancer. For instance, TP53 is indeed a tumor suppressor gene, but it is not as closely linked to hereditary breast cancer risk as BRCA1 and BRCA2. HER2 is an oncogene associated with aggressive breast cancer, and MYC is involved in cell cycle regulation and can promote tumorigenesis rather than suppress it. RAD51 and