Company to market breast cancer gene test

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- An company in Iceland, DeCode Genetics, has developed a genetic test to screen for risk of the most common forms of breast cancer.

The company said the DNA-based test, performed using a blood sample or cheek swab, measures seven widely replicated single-letter variations (SNPs) in the human genome that DeCode and others have linked to risk of breast cancer.

"Women will then receive a numerical score representing their relative risk of developing breast cancer in their lifetime compared to that of the general population, as well as their personal lifetime risk," the company said Wednesday in a news release.

The Washington Post reported critics have expressed concern the $1,625 test could falsely reassure some women and needlessly alarm others. "Women should know this test is not recommended by any organization," Debbie Saslow of the American Cancer Society told the newspaper.