Computer program predicts women's genetic risk for breast and ovarian cancer.

2004 NOV 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cancer Research UK scientists have developed a computer program that can predict genetic susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer with unprecedented accuracy.

The program, called BOADICEA (Breast and Ovarian Analysis of Disease Incidence and Carrier Estimation Algorithm), uses detailed family history to predict a woman's risk of developing cancer. It improves on previous programs because it takes into account genetic mutations besides those of the well-known BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

The researchers plan to offer BOADICEA to health professionals to help them pre-select women likely to be at high risk for further testing, and sparing others the anxiety of waiting for genetic test results. The program was described in the October 12, 2004, British Journal of Cancer .

Women with a strong risk of breast and ovarian cancer can be offered pre-emptive measures such as screening from an early age, preventive surgery (removing breasts or ovaries), or chemoprevention using drugs such as tamoxifen. But the genetic tests needed to identify women as having genetic mutations in genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 are expensive. They can also be slow, causing considerable anxiety in the many patients who turn out not to be at high risk.

Doug Easton, of the Cancer Research UK Genetic Epidemiology Unit in Cambridge, explained, "We created the BOADICEA program in order to better target genetic testing towards only those women who are most likely to carry the mutations. BOADICEA works out a woman's breast and ovarian cancer risk using detailed information on her family history of cancer. The program calculates both her risk of carrying a particular cancer-causing mutation, and her overall risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer."

The program predicts cancer risk based on detailed genetic data gathered on 1,484 women with breast cancer and 156 families with multiple breast and ovarian cancer cases.

The team has just finished testing the program's accuracy by using it to predict high genetic risk of breast cancer in women whose family history was collected in the past by doctors.