Breast Cancer (BRCA) Gene Test: Why It Is Done

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Why It Is Done

A BRCA gene test is done to check your chance of developing breast cancer if your family history or personal history indicates a high chance for this cancer.

A BRCA gene test does not test for cancer itself. It is used to help women with a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer find out if their chance is high enough to think about prevention measures—such as taking medicine (tamoxifen), having a preventive mastectomy, or having their ovaries removed (oophorectomy)—before cancer develops.

Men with a family history of BRCA changes also may want to be tested to find their chance of breast or prostate cancer.

For a person who has breast or ovarian cancer, results from a BRCA gene test can help other family members know their chances of these and perhaps other cancers. If the person with breast or ovarian cancer has normal BRCA gene test results, family members probably would not benefit from the BRCA genetic test.

Last updated:	September 19, 2007
Author:	Shannon Erstad, MBA/MPH
Reviewed By:	Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine, Douglas A. Stewart, MD - Medical Oncology
Editors:	Kathleen M. Ariss, MS, Pat Truman, MATC