Women with ATM and CHEK2 mutations have a lifetime breast cancer risk greater than 20%, which is the threshold at which screening through a breast MRI is recommended. A recently published study based on ICARE participants with ATM and CHEK2 mutations suggested that most female family members of ATM and CHEK2 mutation carriers do not qualify for breast MRI screening based on family cancer history alone.
Specifically, results showed:
– Among 56 ATM carriers in ICARE, less than 25% of their close female relatives had a lifetime breast cancer risk >20% based on family cancer history alone.
– Among 69 CHEK2 carriers in ICARE, less than 15% of their female relatives had a lifetime breast cancer risk >20% based on family history alone.
This emphasizes the need to share positive ATM and CHEK2 test results with family members so they can consider undergoing genetic testing themselves, which could impact their eligibility for breast MRI screening.
For help sharing your positive genetic test results with your family members, visit: geneshare.net
Check out the full article at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31967672