Institute For The Future

Fathers and breast cancer

In a fitting announcement just post-Father's Day, a new JAMA study acknowledges that the genetic mutations (BRCA1 and BRCA2) responsible for some breast cancers can be passed down from a woman's father, not just her mother. Unfortunately, current insurance probability models of coverage fail to take into account that risk--they are based on the family history of breast cancer only on the mother's side. The authors suggest that insurance carriers should cover the cost of the genetic test so that a woman's future cancer risk can better assessed and managed.