BRCA1 and BRCA2 germline mutations have been associated with approximately 25% of the familial cases of breast and ovarian cancer (Futreal et al, 1994; Miki et al, 1994; Wooster et al, 1995); therefore, BRCA1 and BRCA2 represent classical tumour suppressor genes (Lord & Ashworth, 2016). Here, BRCA1 is linked to ovarian cancer.