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upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Knowing BRCA status associated with better breast cancer outcomes even without surgery

"The problem is that genetic screening for BRCA by a saliva or blood test is not recommended by any medical body or health care organization in healthy Ashkenazi Jewish women without a strong family history. Therefore, the way women usually find out they have the BRCA gene is only after they are diagnosed with breast cancer, at which time we've lost the opportunity to offer surgery that could prevent breast cancer or start high-risk breast cancer screening at an age young enough to detect cancers earlier," says Rachel Rabinovitch, MD, FASTRO, CU Cancer Center investigator and professor in the CU School of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology.

[...] "We found that women who knew they were BRCA positive and chose to keep their breasts were much more likely to be diagnosed with noninvasive breast cancer, earlier stage invasive breast cancer, and need less morbid cancer therapy; but most importantly their survival was better," Rabinovitch says, suggesting that results argue for routine BRCA screening in women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.

"However even among those of us who did the study, we do not agree on when is the best age for genetic screening," Rabinovitch says. "My colleagues who live in Israel suggest it should be done at age 30 (the age at which significant cancer risk begins), but I think that's too late."

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