Truemors
This story ring me a bell to one patient. She has to pay a lot of money for the medicine.
All women could soon be offered a genetic test which would tell them whether they were likely or unlikely to contract breast cancer, scientists will say today.
The test could have profound implications for the NHS breast screening programme. Researchers from Cambridge University say that women whose test result shows they are at high risk could be called for screening at a much younger age, while those at low risk could defer mammograms until they are 55 or older.
The test could be a simple mouth swab, said Dr Paul Pharoah from Cambridge University's department of oncology. The technology, used already by commercial DNA profiling agencies, exists to do it now. "To design a test is relatively straightforward if the powers that be thought it was worthwhile," he said.
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at 02:58 on September 3rd, 2008
Could it really be that easy? At the moment tests for the "breast cancer genes" BRCA1 and BRCA2 are time consuming and expensive, and often the results are unreliable.
In Britain the tests are often not performed at all if a person does not have a living relative with breast cancer who can be tested first to find the faulty gene for comparison purposes. Yet I am sure that many people go on to develop breast cancer because it is not known that they have the breast cancer causing genes, and they could have had mastectomies to prevent the cancer from occurring had they known. Even if this surgery was not done, then regular early screening could be arranged.
Surely in the long run, it would save both money and lives to go on and develop such a test.