Studies on large series of BRCA2-associated breast cancers indicate that these tumours are predominantly high-grade IDCs of no special marker subtype, and that they are more often oestrogen- and progesterone-receptor positive (Lakhani et al, 2002; Brekelmans et al, 2007; Palacios et al, 2008). Here, BRCA2 is linked to neoplasm.