Older women with triple-negative breast cancer should undergo genetic testing

Genetic testing for hereditary cancer should be offered to all women aged older than 65 years with triple-negative or ER-negative breast cancer, according to study results published in Journal of Clinical Oncology.

In addition, women aged older than 65 years who carry BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic variants — as well as PALB2and CHEK2 — should be considered for MRI screening, researchers noted.

“Understanding how likely it is that a woman with breast cancer has a genetic predisposition is important in identifying those most in need of testing,” Susan M. Domchek, MD, Basser professor of oncology at Perelman School of Medicine and director of the Basser Center for BRCA at University of Pennsylvania, told Healio. “There has been substantial debate on whether all women with breast cancer should have genetic testing, and now these data help inform this debate.”

Read more from Healio, by Jennifer Southall, about Older women with triple-negative breast cancer should undergo genetic testing