Population screening to identify women at risk for hereditary breast cancer syndromes: The path forward or the road not taken?

Abstract

Population screening of family cancer history to identify women at risk for a hereditary breast cancer syndrome is feasible and effectively identifies high risk women who are eligible for genetic counseling referral. However, uptake of counseling is low among referred women, and there is a critical need to develop multilevel interventions that promote uptake of genetic counseling in diverse groups of patients identified through population-based screening.