Scientists at the Cambridge Research Institute (CRI) and the Strangeways Research Laboratories have shown that it may soon be possible to offer women a genetic test to assess their risk of breast cancer, which could aid early diagnosis for those at high risk of the disease. The findings were revealed in the New England Journal of Medicine [vol. 358 (26), pp 2796-2803] on Wednesday 26 June 2008.

The researchers looked at the seven most common 'modest risk' gene sites which put women at increased risk of developing breast cancer. They wanted to see what impact testing women for these genes might have on future public health policy. Study author Paul Pharoah from the Strangeways Research Laboratories said, "We are a few years away from a new and powerful range of genetic tests for breast cancer. We believe genetic testing has the potential to enable doctors to identify a woman at an increased risk of breast cancer who would benefit from mammography at an early age or woman who may benefit from regular MRI scanning as well. This approach would also identify a 55 year old woman with a low chance of breast cancer who possibly wouldn't need such regular checks."

Lead author Bruce Ponder, director of the CRI, said: "It is very exciting to see workable and affordable approaches to genetic screening for breast cancer on the horizon. We expect such technology to develop very fast in the next decade so it's important that we start thinking about how best to apply these advances."

For a full press release and other Cancer Research UK news, see online news.

For more details on the research behind this paper, see Bruce Ponder and Paul Pharoah's research profiles.