{"id":881642,"date":"2026-10-14T05:24:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T05:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/881642\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T05:24:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T05:24:17","slug":"old-brca-tests-may-have-missed-a-cancer-linked-mutation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/881642\/","title":{"rendered":"Old BRCA tests may have missed a cancer-linked mutation"},"content":{"rendered":"

About 5% to 10% of breast cancer cases are linked to inherited gene mutations, which is why doctors recommend all women<\/a> complete a risk assessment by age 25 to determine if they should get further genetic testing for cancer-linked BRCA mutations.<\/p>\n

But women who got their genetic test results a while ago \u2014 before 2013 \u2014 may find it missed mutations we can easily test for now.<\/p>\n

In fact, a recent study<\/a> found than one in six women (17.3%) who tested negative for dangerous mutations in the early days of testing actually did have a dangerous variant when they retested an average of five years later.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are probably thousands of individuals out there who need to be retested,\u201d Dr. Sofia Merajver, a breast cancer researcher, told the Washington Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AGenetic testing in patients who are at high-risk of breast cancer is an important way to potentially catch breast cancer early, like self-exams, seen here. Krakenimages.com \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Why was testing less accurate before?<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve probably heard of BRCA1 and BRCA2 \u2014 when these genes mutate, they carry the highest risk of breast cancer. When cancer does develop in people with mutations on these genes, it\u2019s often more aggressive.<\/p>\n

These genes were identified in the \u201990s by Myriad Genetics, and for 15 years, the company held exclusive rights<\/a> to screen and test for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. Tests usually looked for one or the other, or both, excluding many other genes we now know hold risk.<\/p>\n

In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that human genes couldn\u2019t be patented, opening the door for easier testing that looked at both BRCA genes as well as mutations on up to 50<\/a> cancer-related genes in one test.<\/p>\n

After 2013, costs also dropped from around $4,000 to less than $400. As a result, testing among both men and women steadily increased<\/a> over the next decade.<\/p>\n

As research has expanded, we now know about at least 11 more genes<\/a> linked to increased risk of breast cancer outside of BRCA1 and BRCA2.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not an exhaustive list: Dozens of other genes are being investigated to see if they increase a person\u2019s risk of breast cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very worthwhile for someone to get retested because if you\u2019ve only been tested for BRCA1 and 2, you only have part of the story,\u201d Dr. Versha Pleasant, a breast cancer researcher, told the Washington Post.<\/p>\n

\"AGenetic testing for breast cancer risk might look like a blood sample or cheek swab. MINAE \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Should you get tested for genetic breast cancer risk?<\/p>\n

In the study that showed more than one in six women got a false negative on breast cancer genetic testing, most only returned to get retested after a family member was diagnosed.<\/p>\n

Having a first degree relative (parent, sibling, or child) with breast cancer almost doubles<\/a> a woman\u2019s risk of developing it themselves. <\/p>\n

Family history is one of the most important factors in a standard risk assessment assessing whether you should get genetic testing done. Ideally, it should be done with a doctor as DIY risk assessments<\/p>\n

Genetic testing is especially important for those who\u2019ve already been diagnosed with cancer, as genetic mutations could change treatment plans.<\/p>\n

For example, after a test shows a high-risk inherited gene mutation, a doctor may recommend<\/a> a mastectomy (removal of all breast tissue) rather than a lumpectomy (removal of the tumor only, preserving the breast) to drop risk of cancer returning to the single digits.<\/p>\n

Also, medications may work well for a certain mutation but not another. Genetic testing can point doctors to what treatment will work best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"About 5% to 10% of breast cancer cases are linked to inherited gene mutations, which is why doctors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":881643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[4528,7966,687,8006,97,686,3284],"class_list":["post-881642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-womens-health","tag-breast-cancer","tag-cancer","tag-diseases","tag-health","tag-medicine","tag-study-says"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}