BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH: NEW CANCER RISK SURVEY REVEALS RISK FACTORS ARE WIDELY MISUNDERSTOOD

SALT LAKE CITY [SEPT. 28, 2023] – A new national survey from Myriad Genetics Inc., (NASDAQ:MYGN), a leader in genetic testing and precision medicine, revealed that breast density and family health history are two misunderstood breast cancer risk factors.

Of the women surveyed:

  • 48% do not know what breast density is and 50% are unsure if it has anything to do with breast cancer risk
  • Few women feel like they have all the medical information they need from their mother’s side (19%) and father’s side (15%) to better understand their breast cancer risk
  • Nearly a quarter of women reported they don’t talk about health issues in their families as the primary reason they don’t know anything about their mother’s and father’s family medical history

Women with dense breast tissue are up to four times more likely to develop breast cancer compared to women without dense breasts.1 Higher-density tissue can make it more difficult to detect breast masses or cancer during a screening and may require additional imaging tests. The Federal Drug Administration recently updated mammography regulations requiring mammography facilities to notify patients about the density of their breasts by September 2024.

More information is available here.

About Myriad Genetics Cancer Risk nationwide survey
Myriad Genetics Cancer Risk Survey is a nationwide poll conducted online by ACUPOLL Precision Research, Inc. from June 20-29, 2023 among a statistically representative sample (n=1632) of U.S. females age 18+. The margin of error in survey results for the total base population at a 95% confidence interval is +/- 3%.

About Myriad Genetics

Myriad Genetics is a leading genetic testing and precision medicine company dedicated to advancing health and well-being for all. Myriad develops and offers genetic tests that help assess the risk of developing disease or disease progression and guide treatment decisions across medical specialties where genetic insights can significantly improve patient care and lower healthcare costs. For more information, visit www.myriad.com.

MyRisk is the first hereditary cancer test to incorporate breast density using Tyrer-Cuzick version 8 (TCv8) and evaluates 48 genes associated with hereditary cancer risk to identify genetic changes associated with an increased cancer risk. For more information, please visit: https://myriad.com/hcp-myrisk-hereditary-cancer-test/.

1 McCormack VA, dos Santos Silva I. Breast density and parenchymal patterns as markers of breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2006;15(6):1159–69. doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-06-0034 [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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Glenn Farrell
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