BRCA1 and ovarian carcinoma: In 1997, a study investigating the presence of 5 specific BRCA mutations in Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi Jewish females with breast or ovarian cancer identified the presence of the Ashkenazi Jewish common mutation BRCA1 185delAG, for the first time in an Iraqi patient with no known Ashkenazi ancestry [8] The BRCA1 185delAG has been identified in several other ethnic groups [9].