The Institute of Cancer Research shared a post on LinkedIn:
“We’re celebrating a milestone in the national BRCA gene testing programme
More than 30,000 people with Jewish ancestry have now had genetic testing through the NHS Jewish BRCA Testing Programme – an initiative designed, led and delivered by the ICR’s Professor Clare Turnbull and her team, working in collaboration with NHS England Cancer Programme, North Thames Genomics Laboratory Hub at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Jewish health charities.
Professor Clare Turnbull, Professor of Translational Cancer Genetics at the ICR, celebrated with Peter Johnson, National Clinical Director for Cancer at NHS England.
Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes increase the risk of a range of cancers. People with Jewish ancestry have a higher risk of having one of these mutations:
- 1 in 250 people in the UK carry a mutation in the BRCA gene.
- 1 in 140 Sephardi Jews carry a mutation in the BRCA gene.
- 1 in 40 Ashkenazi Jews carry a mutation in the BRCA gene.
- Knowing you have a BRCA gene mutation allows you to access options that help to manage and reduce cancer risk. It also helps to inform treatment decisions if you do develop cancer.
But expanding BRCA testing for more people is challenging – access to clinical professionals and capacity for genetic counselling act as barriers. Scientists at the ICR have developed a new, patient-centred pathway to make the process more accessible and cost-effective. A version of the pathway is being used in the Jewish BRCA Testing Programme.
Based on the success of this and other BRCA-testing programmes led and delivered by the ICR team, NHSE Cancer Programme are launching a project to expand genetic testing to identify people at increased risk of cancer.
Read more about the ICR’s role in this, from discovering the BRCA2 gene to expanding access to testing.”
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