In Canada, GeneNews Limited offers hope for understanding breast cancer risk, especially to the 50% of women who have dense breast tissue which is associated with a higher risk of breast cancer. GeneNews’s new BreastSentry is a blood-based biomarker test to figure out a woman’s risk for developing breast cancer over the next five years and over her lifetime. It is targeted for women with no family history of breast cancer who are believed to have average risk.
Because it is much more difficult to detect breast cancer with a mammogram for women with dense breast tissue, this will greatly help those women know their risk factors so doctors can determine if they need further screening like MRIs or if they need to make lifestyle changes to reduce their risk. GeneNews CEO, James Howard-Tripp, told Yahoo News “We are excited to make this test available to women throughout the U.S. who are concerned with their risk for developing breast cancer, especially those 50% of U.S. women with dense breast tissue, who cannot rely on mammography alone to determine if they currently have the disease.”