TOX3 maps to 16q12, a region commonly lost in breast cancers and recently implicated in the risk of developing breast cancer. However, not much is known of the role of TOX3 itself in breast cancer biology. This is the first study to determine the importance of TOX3 mutations in breast cancers. We screened TOX3 for mutations in 133 breast tumours and identified four mutations (three missense, one in-frame deletion of 30 base pairs) in six primary tumours, corresponding to an overall mutation frequency of 4.5%. One potentially deleterious missense mutation in exon 3 (Leu129Phe) was identified in one tumour (genomic DNA and cDNA). Whilst copy number changes of 16q12 are common in breast cancer, our data show that mutations of TOX3 are present at low frequency in tumours. Our results support that TOX3 should be further investigated to elucidate its role in breast cancer biology.

Pooled retrospective data suggest that women who conceived spontaneously after the age of 45 years have increased maternal morbidity and rates of caesarean section, as well as higher incidence of premature births and admission to special care baby unit.

No abstract

May signal a serious underlying pathology

demonstrated the feasibility and utility of including such questions in general health surveys, providing a useful vehicle for monitoring sexual risk behaviour more frequently than is possible with decennial Natsal surveys.