Is additional testing appropriate for you and your family?
Some questions for you, your doctor, and your genetic counselor to consider:
- Did you have the most comprehensive BRCA1/2 testing available? For instance, the laboratory that offers BRCA1/2 test has a special rearrangement test to look for missing pieces of the two genes. This special test is not a part of the comprehensive panel. The lab will test some families automatically but for others it must be ordered as an additional test by your doctor.
- Were you the right person in the family to test? Sometimes it is more appropriate to test another family member to rule out/in a mutation in BRCA1 or 2 as the cause of cancer in the family.
- Was the correct gene selected? We know of several other genes that can increase the risk for breast or ovarian cancer.
It is also possible that no other testing is necessary for you. This will need to be determined after the above questions are addressed.
Text for this site is provided by Luba Djurdjinovic, MS, Erin E. Houghton, MS, CGC, Lindsey A. Morse, MS, CGC, and Alissa M. Bovee, ScM, CGC