Because of recent advances in the understanding of breast cancer risk factors and the promise of prevention, women from high-risk families are encouraged to consider genetic testing to quantify their risk, according to background information in the article.
Rita Nanda, M.D., of the University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, and colleagues conducted a study to characterize the clinical predictors of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations among high-risk individuals of European and African ancestry, highlighting the similarities and differences.
The researchers found that the mutation spectrum was vastly different between families of African and European ancestry.
"Our data support the use of personal and family history of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, or both in making clinical decisions and identifying individuals who are likely to benefit from genetic counseling. Certain family characteristics-most notably the number of breast cancer cases among first- and second-degree relatives and the mean age at diagnosis of breast cancer-are associated with the likelihood of carrying a deleterious mutation among African Americans, as has previously been observed in white and Ashkenazi Jewish families," the researchers write.
