Study may change breast cancer screening

HOUSTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- A U.S. study shows women with a specific gene mutation are diagnosed with breast cancer six years earlier than women of the previous generation.

University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center researchers say their findings could have an impact on how women at the highest risk for the disease are counseled and even screened in the future.

"In our practice, we've noticed that women with a known deleterious BRCA gene mutation are being diagnosed earlier with the disease than their moms or aunts," said Dr. Jennifer Litton, an assistant professor and the study's first author. "With this study, we looked at women who had been both treated and had their BRCA testing at M.D. Anderson to determine if what we were seeing anecdotally was consistent scientifically.

"Currently, BRCA positive women are counseled that they won't need to worry about breast cancer until a certain age," Litton said. "However, our findings show that we may actually start seeing the disease even earlier in future generations. We need to make changes accordingly in order to best advise and care for these women at greatest risk."

The findings were presented last week in San Francisco during the American Society of Clinical Oncology's 2009 Breast Cancer Symposium.