A study has revealed that DNA testing company 23andMe could be overlooking a genetic variant indicating breast and ovarian cancer risk in nearly 90% of cases. Released at BRCA annual meeting, the study, which has not been peer reviewed, looked at 100,000 people tested for breast cancer risk by diagnostic firm Invitae. It warned that 23andMe uses a testing formula based on only three genetic variants of the the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics gene, whereas most people carry different mutations of that gene. As a result, women may be receiving falsely reassuring negative tests.
A study has revealed that DNA testing company 23andMe could be overlooking a genetic variant indicating breast and ovarian cancer risk in nearly 90% of cases. Released at the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics annual meeting, the study, which has not been peer reviewed, looked at 100,000 people tested for breast cancer risk by diagnostic firm Invitae. It warned that 23andMe uses a testing formula based on only three genetic variants of the BRCA gene, whereas most people carry different mutations of that gene. As a result, women may be receiving falsely reassuring negative tests.