We describe here the identification of a novel transcriptional regulator element within the 8q24 region that is associated with expression of PVT1. The risk region is marked by a strong DHS in breast cancer MCF-7 cells and is able to interact physically with both the MYC and the PVT1 promoter, but only PVT1 and not MYC gene expression correlates with the presence of the risk allele. Here, MYC is linked to breast cancer.