Breast Cancer (BRCA) Gene Test: What To Think About

Content provided by Healthwise

What To Think About

There are several important things to think about when you are making the decision to have a BRCA gene test.

• Genetic counseling before and after a BRCA test will help you understand the benefits, risks, and possible outcomes of testing. A BRCA test gives you the chance to make informed medical and lifestyle decisions. For more information, see the topic Breast Cancer Genetic Test. However, information about having gene changes could affect your employment or your health, life, and disability insurance. To find doctors who do gene tests and counseling, call the cancer information service at the National Cancer Institute at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237). To find a genetic counselor near you, contact the National Society of Genetic Counselors at (312) 321-6834 or visit their Web site at www.nsgc.org.
• About 5% to 10% of all breast and ovarian cancers are linked to the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene change.³ If you test positive for one of these changes, your lifetime chance of breast cancer is 36% to 85% and your chance for ovarian cancer is 16% to 60%.¹ These numbers show a wide range of chance and depend on your other personal and family history.
• If you have a strong family history of breast cancer, a negative BRCA result does not mean that you will not develop breast cancer. BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene changes do cause a higher chance of breast cancer, but other gene changes are possible and may cause cancer.
• If you have a family member with breast cancer, think about asking the family member to be tested for a gene change before you have a test. If your family member's BRCA tests results are negative, it usually is not helpful to test the rest of the family.
• Genetic tests can be very expensive (costing hundreds to thousands of dollars) and may not be covered by your health insurance.
• The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) does not recommend regular BRCA testing for women who do not have family risk factors.²
• For women from families that do not have risk factors for BRCA changes, a genetic test is not likely to give any useful information about their chance of developing breast cancer. Women from low-risk families rarely have a positive test. A BRCA gene test is not recommended for a person without risk factors, because the test can give a false-positive test result.

Should I have a gene test for breast and ovarian cancer?

What should I do if I'm at high risk for breast cancer?

E-mail This | Print This Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Last updated:	September 22, 2005
Author:	Jan Nissl, RN, BS
Reviewed By:	Joy Melnikow, MD, MPH - Family Medicine, Siobhan M. Dolan, MD, MPH - Reproductive Genetics
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Tracy Landauer