Results from this study suggest that BRCA1 mutation and loss of heterozygosity may predispose cancer formation in steroidogenic tissues by virtue of loss of DNA damage repair mechanisms in the epithelial cell compartments coupled with growth stimulatory paracrine effects on these cells mediated by enhanced estrogen production in local tissues (i.e., granulosa cells and/or preadipocytes). Here, BRCA1 is linked to cancer.