Study finds BRACAnalysis vital for triple negative breast cancer patients

Oct 5 2010

Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MYGN) announced today that results from a preliminary study indicate that BRCA germline mutations occur at a high frequency in women with triple negative breast cancer, sufficiently high enough to justify screening of all women with TNBC. Details of the study were presented on October 3, 2010, at the 2010 ASCO Breast Cancer Symposium in Washington DC. The presentation is entitled: "Incidence and outcome of BRCA mutation carriers with triple negative breast cancer", and the abstract (#160) is available on the ASCO website at http://asco.org/.          

"This study confirms the emerging story of the importance of BRACAnalysis^® testing in triple negative breast cancer," said Mark Capone, President of Myriad Genetic Laboratories. "The high prevalence of BRCA mutations in women that do not currently qualify for BRACAnalysis testing, if confirmed in additional studies, could be considered for future updates to testing guidelines."

TNBC is characterized by the absence of tumor expression of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and HER2 and is particularly aggressive and difficult to treat. BRACAnalysis^® is currently recommended in women diagnosed with TNBC that are under the age of 45, or have family history of disease or other risk factors. In the study presented at ASCO, 77 TNBC patients from the MD Anderson Cancer Center that did not meet the standard testing criteria were evaluated with BRACAnalysis testing. Approximately 18% of patients were found to have deleterious germline mutations in either BRCA1 or BRCA2.  Forty-three percent (43%) of the mutation carriers were patients that would not have qualified for BRACAnalysis testing under existing guidelines.