Non-BRCA carriers continue to have more screenings they may not need

CHICAGO – Following BRCA testing, many women who are non-BRCA carriers undergo risk-reducing procedures and additional ovarian cancer screenings, despite limited data to determine the effectiveness of these interventions among the general population, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

BRCA1 and BRCA2 belong to a class of genes known as tumour suppressors. Mutation of these genes has been linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.

“The lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer is only 1 percent to 2 percent in the general population; however, women with deleterious BRCA mutations have a cumulative lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer of approximately 40% in BRCA1 carriers and approximately 20% in BRCA2 carriers,” according to background in the article. “In light of these statistics, there has been significant interest in defining the role of ovarian cancer screening in individuals who might be at higher-than-average risk.”

Gabriel N. Mannis, M.D., and colleagues with the University of California, San Francisco, surveyed 1,077 women after BRCA testing to identify the prevalence and post-test predictors of risk-reducing and screening interventions, including risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO; surgical removal of an ovary together with a fallopian tube), screening transvaginal ultrasonography (TVUS; vaginal ultrasound), and screening serum cancer antigen 125 (CA-125; blood serum test for CA-125).

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