Genetic Testing and Screening Recommendations for Patients with Hereditary Breast Cancer

Professionals who specialize in breast imaging may be the first to initiate the conversation about genetic counseling with patients who have a diagnosis of premenopausal breast cancer or a strong family history of breast and ovarian cancer. Commercial genetic testing panels have gained popularity and have become more affordable in recent years. Therefore, it is imperative for radiologists to be able to provide counseling and to identify those patients who should be referred for genetic testing. The authors review the process of genetic counseling and the associated screening recommendations for patients at high and moderate risk. Ultimately, genetic test results enable appropriate patient-specific screening, which allows improvement of overall survival by early detection and timely treatment. The authors discuss pretest counseling, which involves the use of various breast cancer risk assessment tools such as the Gail and Tyrer-Cuzick models. The most common high- and moderate-risk gene mutations associated with breast cancer are also reviewed. In addition to BRCA1 and BRCA2, several high-risk genes, including TP53, PTEN, CDH1, and STK11, are discussed. Moderate-risk genes include ATM, CHEK2, and PALB2. The imaging appearances of breast cancer typically associated with each gene mutation, as well as the other associated cancers, are described. ^©RSNA, 2020 See discussion on this article by Butler (pp 937-940).