Hereditary DNA testing is recommended for all patients with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) to identify inherited BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations responsible for developing breast cancer and to help physicians in managing their patients’ treatment. To see who is being tested, researchers analyzed the medical records of 1,318 women diagnosed between 2017 and 2021 treated in US community oncology clinics with active genetic screening programs.
More likely to be tested were Hispanic women (82%), White women (77%) and patients in the Western and Northeastern United States. Less likely to be treated were Black women (67%), poorer patients, and those living in the Midwest and South.
“Further research should be performed to understand reasons why testing was not done, to address barriers, the researchers concluded.
- See “Racial Disparity Seen in Use of Germline Testing in TNBC” by Nicholas Robert, MD, on the Targeted Oncology website (August 9, 2023)
- See the abstract presented at a 2023 scientific meeting: “The impact of social determinants of health (SDOH) on use of germline genetic testing for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in the community oncology setting” by Robert Lawrence Reid et al.
