Age of uptake of early cancer detection facilities by low-risk and high-risk patients with familial breast and ovarian cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Some 5-10% of all cases of breast cancer and ovarian cancer have a hereditary genesis. In the setting of an interdisciplinary cancer genetics clinic, a study of the age at which patients first take advantage of early cancer detection (ECD) facilities was conducted in order to assess the influence of familial risk on health issues. METHODS: The study included 556 women who fulfilled the inclusion criteria (IC) for genetic analysis of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, as well as 205 who did not meet these criteria but attended the primary consultation. RESULTS: Consulters who met the inclusion criteria took advantage of nearly all methods of ECD at an earlier time than women who did not. A comparison of consulters with or without breast cancer showed that those without breast cancer participated in all methods of ECD at an earlier time. CONCLUSION: Methods of improving and increasing participation in ECD facilities, and of encouraging women who are at risk to start on such programs at a younger age, need to be discussed. In this study, familial risk already resulted in a younger age of uptake of ECD facilities.