Personalized medicine can cut breast cancer risk

Prevention starts in primary care with comprehensive risk assessment

Dr. Funmi Olopade counsels a patients in the Cancer Risk Clinic at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Click here for more information.

The time has come for breast cancer risk assessment, counseling and genetic testing to move from cancer specialists to the realm of primary care, according to a presentation at the AAAS annual meeting, held this year in Boston.

"A growing body of evidence has documented the benefits of preventive measures for high-risk women including those with mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes," said Funmi Olopade, MD, the Walter L Palmer Distinguished Service professor of medicine and director of the Cancer Risk Clinic at the University of Chicago Medical Center. "Referral for cancer-risk assessment and BRCA testing in the primary care setting is a necessary next step towards personalized medicine for women at risk for breast cancer."

Most high-risk women present in the primary care setting, she said. Primary care physicians should learn about the genetics of cancer risk, take a comprehensive personal and family history and advise patients who appear to be at increased risk about the plusses, minuses and limitations of genetic testing and risk-reduction strategies.