Hundreds more breast cancer patients should be tested for BRCA1 gene
Research led by scientists at the ICR found BRCA1 mutations in nearly one in five women diagnosed under 50 with triple-negative (TN) breast cancer, leading to calls for this group to be offered testing for faults in the BRCA1 gene.
Due to the cost of testing for the BRCA1 mutation, NICE guidance currently recommends that BRCA1 should be offered if the likelihood of detecting a mutation is greater than 20 per cent, although many testing centres offer it if the likelihood is between 10-20 per cent.
Professor Nazneen Rahman and colleagues estimate more than one in three women with TN breast cancer caused by BRCA1 mutations would not have been tested using the current criteria. Using a simple age criteria for testing could result in many more women benefiting from the optimised care that genetic information makes possible.
Women carrying the BRCA1 mutation have a 65 per cent chance of developing breast cancer by the time they’re 70.
