Breast Cancer and Ovarian Cancer: Screening
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of NHS eligibility criteria for BRCA1 genetic testing for individuals with a family history of (a) breast and (b) ovarian cancer.
Answered by Mrs Sharon Hodgson
The current eligibility criteria for genetic testing are set out in the NHS National Genomic Test Directory. The aim is to offer individuals at higher risk of developing cancer (those with pathogenic variants in their genes) clinical pathways to support them to manage their risk, offer their family members testing and ultimately lead to more cancers being prevented or detected earlier. The directory is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/national-genomic-test-directories/
NHS England is currently funding the Retrospective Genetic Testing Programme to offer genetic testing to people who have not yet received a test, in line with the current eligibility criteria set out in the directory. More information is available at the following link:
https://brca-direct.icr.ac.uk/privacy_policy
All individuals who test positive will be added to the National Inherited Cancer Predisposition Register. More information is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/our-work/genomics/nicpr
Following this, individuals will be invited for screening in line with guidance available at the following link:
The UK National Screening Committee has not been asked to consider whether a screening programme for BRCA1 would be appropriate for women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, and no cost effectiveness estimates have been made of such a policy.
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