Interpreting breast cancer genetic testing: A Mayo Clinic expert explains

When Mayo Clinic breast medicine specialist Sandhya Pruthi, M.D., started in the field, a test to look for gene mutations linked with breast cancer and other hereditary cancers cost around $3,000. Today, that price tag is more like $200 to $300. It’s often covered by insurance.

More accessible testing means more people are turning to genetic tests for all sorts of reasons. The tests, often available online, are simple. Swab your cheek, put it in the mail — and, often, get your results without a doctor or genetic counselor’s guidance.

But as commonplace as genetic testing has become, testing for the genes linked with breast cancer, called the BRCA (BRAK-uh) genes, isn’t “just another test,” Dr. Pruthi says. She encourages her patients to ask: “What am I going to do with the information? If the mutation is linked to breast cancer, what’s the risk for developing cancer?”