Friday, October 10, 2008

Do all female BRCA mutation carriers have the same risk, or is more accurate to consider a risk range?

Most families with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer have a mutation in the BRCA1 (breast cancer-1) or BRCA2 (breast cancer-2) genes. As you know, genetic testing for mutations in these genes has only become clinically available within the past 15 years. For this reason we do not have a great deal of long-term prospective data on individuals who carry mutations in these genes and it is most accurate to present mutation carriers with a range of cancer risks To read more about this New York Times article please click on the above light blue link.