By combining genetic, familial, and lifestyle data, physicians might be able to determine which women are at greater risk of developing breast cancer, the Guardian reports.
It adds that researchers from Cancer Research UK hope to develop a tool to help physicians determine which women should undergo breast cancer screening. The University of Cambridge's Antonis Antoniou and his colleagues have updated the Breast and Ovarian Analysis of Disease Incidence and Carrier Estimation Algorithm (BOADICEA) risk model to include common genetic risk factors for breast cancer. The model previously included the cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, CHEK2, and ATM.
As they report this week in Genetics in Medicine, Antoniou and his colleagues found that this addition of common risk variants and other risk factors enabled the model to better stratify women. "This is the first time that anyone has combined so many elements into one breast cancer prediction tool," Antoniou tells the Guardian.
"This should help doctors to tailor the care they provide depending on their patients' level of risk," he adds.