Category: breast cancer

Persistent Underutilization of BRCA Testing for Breast and Ovarian Cancer in the United States: Implications for Health Disparities

a map of the US with a crowd and BRCA Testing above it

Two recent studies document ongoing underutilization and disparities in genetic testing for patients with breast and ovarian cancer. BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA) genetic testing is supported by clinical guidelines to inform hereditary cancer risk for people with certain personal or family health histories of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, or prostate cancer, and to guide treatment decisions Read More >

Posted on by Lu Shi, Katherine Kolor, Muin J. Khoury, Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia1 Comment
Categories breast cancer, genomics
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Trends and Factors Affecting Utilization of BRCA Testing in the United States: The Need for Improved Surveillance

hands holding a pink ribbon with the US map in the background

This blog post is a summary of two recent CDC papers on the trends in utilization of BRCA testing in the United States, and metropolitan-nonmetropolitan areas differences in testing. Women with pathogenic BRCA mutations have an estimated 45–65% risk of breast cancer and a 17–39% risk of ovarian cancer by age 70, as compared with Read More >

Posted on by Katherine Kolor, Zhuo Chen, and Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Categories breast cancer, family history, genomics, screening
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Recommendations and Reality: What Personal Stories of Hereditary Cancer Can Tell Us

four photos of Sarah, Dave, Zac and Gloria (reading order starting top left)

In public health and clinical medicine, recommendations for interventions are generally based on the evidence supporting improved health outcomes. Studies that inform these recommendations often focus on the evidence for benefits, especially when those benefits include lives saved. The harms that affect quality of life are more challenging to quantify and sometimes go unmeasured. Recommendations Read More >

Posted on by Ridgely Fisk Green, Carter Consulting, Inc., and Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Katrina Trivers, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1 Comment
Categories breast cancer, cancer, genomics
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Using Genomics in Precision Prevention of Breast Cancer

Hands joined in circle holding breast cancer struggle symbol and surrounded by DNA

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States. It is estimated that 3%-5% of breast cancer cases are hereditary, most often involving mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Such mutations confer high lifetime risk of breast and ovarian cancer. The United States Preventive Services Task Force has issued specific recommendations Read More >

Posted on by Muin J Khoury, Director, Office of Public Health Genomics and Lisa C Richardson, Director, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Categories breast cancer, genomics, precision medicine, prevention
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