Genetic testing for breast cancer varies across UK

摘要

Although centres are required to retest samples, 17% of laboratories say that it will take 2 years to clear the backlog. "The implications for women who are being tested for only 60% of the gene are that the result may be judged uninformative, when in fact a BRCA gene mutation is present in the 40% of the gene that has not been tested", says James MacKay (University College London, UK).Andrea Pithers (CancerBACUP) says: "Whilst some women understand that genetic testing is a complicated and laborious process compared to other simple blood tests, to some women this seems a long time to wait".