According to the results of a recent clinical study, for patients at risk of breast or ovarian cancer the myRisk hereditary cancer test from Myriad Genetics detects cancer 51% more often than tests for BCRA1 or BCRA2 genes alone. Myriad Genetics presented the findings at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

MyRisk is a diagnostic test that relies on next-generation sequencing technology to evaluate 25 genes associated with 8 major hereditary cancers, including breast, colorectal, ovarian, endometrial, pancreatic, prostate, gastric, and melanoma.

The clinical study evaluated 1951 patients referred for BCRA1/2 testing and found that, using the myRisk test, 275 registered a potentially dangerous mutation for breast or ovarian cancer. Only 182 patients showed a mutation under the BCRA1/2 test. MyRisk displayed an accuracy of 99.9%. A previous study for hereditary colon cancer also found an accuracy rate of 99.9%.

“Hereditary cancers are caused by mutations in many different genes, and new genes linked to cancer have been recently identified. Testing only for one hereditary cancer syndrome may lead to missed mutations,” said Richard J. Wenstrup, M.D., chief medical officer at Myriad Genetics. “The myRisk test evaluates 25 clinically actionable genes and significantly improves our ability to identify people at higher risk for hereditary cancer, which may lead to prevention or early detection with the ability to reduce cancer incidence and mortality.”

For more information, visit Myriad Genetics