NEW YORK – Myriad Genetics and outpatient medical imaging firm SimonMed Imaging plan to jointly launch a hereditary cancer assessment program combining diagnostic imaging, patient education, and genetic risk assessment through Myriad's MyRisk and RiskScore tools.
The program is expected to be operational at all 86 of SimonMed’s women’s imaging sites by the end of this year, beginning with a phased rollout of the program in early May to patients at select imaging sites.
The American College of Radiology and the Society of Breast Imaging both recommend that all women be evaluated for breast cancer risk no later than age 30 to better identify those at higher risk. Guidelines also recommend that women at higher risk based on genetic testing begin annual breast MRI screenings between the ages of 25 and 30, and that they undergo annual mammographies from age 30.
Paul Diaz, Myriad's president and CEO, said in a statement that "with recent clinical guideline developments from a variety of professional societies regarding genetic risk assessment beginning as early as age 25-30, this collaboration is critically important to help recognize and screen younger high-risk patients and ensure they receive appropriate supplemental screening and medical management options to best manage their elevated risk."
Late last year, Myriad presented data suggesting that RiskScore's performance in estimating 10-year and lifetime breast cancer risk improved when combined with the clinical feature-based Tyrer-Cuzik risk model.