A recent study has found that it would be too costly to screen every woman for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation. Woman with this gene mutation have a higher risk of having ovarian and breast cancer. The BRCA test cost about $4,000. The study found that out of 10,000 women that were tested 4 cases of breast cancer and 2 cases of ovarian cancer would be detected in contrast to women who only get tested if they have cancer in their family history.
This study highlighted though, even if the patients were screened the study would only extend the patients life by 2 days. For this test to be a success monetarily, the cost would have to drop incredibly.
This study shows that there is plenty to find out when researching cancers. Even though this test was designed to help more women and men in some cases, tests don't always work as originally intended.
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I'm interested to see what other genetic testing could be done in place of the BRCA test. (Besides any that may already be out there) I'm very surprised that out of 10,000 women, only 6 patients were detected. That is a very significantly small amount! I enjoyed this article a lot.
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