Dr Lee Schwartzberg on the Exclusion of Men From BRCA Screening Recommendations

Lee Schwartzberg, MD, FACP, executive director, West Cancer Center, discusses exclusion of men from the US Preventive Services Task Force's (USPSTF's) updated BRCA screening recommendation update.

Transcript

What are your thoughts on USPSTF leaving men out of its updated recommendation for BRCA1/2 screening and testing?

Well, I believe that all men who have breast cancer, for example, should be tested. About 10% of them will have a hereditary, usually a BRCA 1 or 2 gene. The number of genes that contribute to hereditary breast or ovarian cancer is broadening over time, and so we’re learning more over time as we move from the very high penetrant cancer syndromes to somewhat less, but we’re learning a lot, so I think men will be included in the near future.