Attitudes to genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility in women at increased risk of developing hereditary breast cancer

Abstract

The localisation of the two breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 made possible the use of mutation detection as a susceptibility test for individuals who wish to learn whether they carry a risk-conferring mutation. Several studies have assessed attitudes to genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility, most of which involved either community samples or women with just one first-degree relative with breast cancer. The objective of our study was to assess attitudes to genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility in a large sample of women at high risk of developing hereditary breast cancer on the basis of family history. The majority of women included in our sample (80%) had a family history consistent with a dominantly inherited predisposition to breast cancer (lifetime risk of 1 in 4 to 1 in 2), and the remainder (20%) was at moderately increased risk of developing breast cancer (lifetime risk of 1 in 8 to 1 in 4).