PALB2 and breast cancer: PALB2 is emerging as a gene that plays a major role in inherited breast cancer; recent data suggest a lifetime risk for PALB2 carriers ranging from 33 to 58%, depending on the family history of cancer.34 If these risks are confirmed in subsequent studies, PALB2 would impart the same level of breast cancer risk as BRCA2 and therefore may warrant similar breast cancer medical management recommendations.