And the BRCAgene tests are not medicine: they are a diagnostic test that reads your DNA and tells you if you have harmful mutations in two specific genes.
In fact, it is likely that only a small proportion of hereditary cancers have a link to the BRCAgene, so a negative result could never rule out even hereditary breast cancer.
In addition, younger women found to be at high risk of breast cancer, either through family history or because they carry the BRCA 1 or 2 gene, would receive annual scans to check for signs of the disease.
Myriad has used its patents to develop its BRACAnalysis test looks for mutations on the breast cancer predisposition gene, or BRCA. Those mutations are associated with much greater risks of breast and ovarian cancer.