October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Some of the best defensive strategies against breast cancer are early detection and risk reduction, but high-risk individuals can be missed with some routine screening processes. The Ambry CARE Program® (CARE) helps healthcare providers consistently identify high-risk patients by assessing patients’…
Hereditary cancer testing has changed dramatically over the past decade, reshaping how healthcare professionals diagnose and manage genetic risks. Initially, testing focused on specific genes like BRCA1 and BRCA2, linked to breast and ovarian cancers. These gene tests were quite limited, only looking at a small set of mutations…
One of the accomplishments I am most proud of is driving the creation of a successful high-risk breast program in a large community-based health system. I am often asked how we did it. For advice on getting started, check out the first blog in this series. If you have already implemented a high-risk breast program, congratulations! It’s time…
With 25 years of innovation experience, Ambry has been a leading pioneer in genetic testing. But Ambry prioritizes more than performing testing. Since the launch of the Ambry CARE Program® in 2019, Ambry has also consistently helped to improve the delivery of genetic services. Why CARE? We know significant gaps exist between medical guidelines…
Many patients are anxious about their family history—more than providers realize. In some cases, they may feel like a ticking time bomb with no options. In Part One of this blog series, I talked about The Ambry CARE ProgramTM and how Lake Health has been able to use it to identify more high-risk patients, increase family history and cancer risk…
Amby Genetics is proud to have worked with a large international team on clarifying the significance of CHEK2 variants. We connected with team leaders Dr. Petra Kleiblova and Dr. Zdenek Kleibl ahead of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They provided us with the following commentary on the importance of the recent publication, “ENIGMA CHEK2gether…
Amy Byer Shainman, also known as BRCAResponder, is a patient advocate, author, and producer who provides support and education related to having a pathogenic variant in BRCA1/2 or other cancer predisposition genes. We connected with her ahead of National Previvor Day and Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Week. Amy’s sister was diagnosed…
Ben Huebsch was inspired to become an educator because of his mother’s advice to give back to his community. He loves his job as a middle school principal: he gets a front-row seat to the impact a dedicated staff can have on young lives! He is continuing his mother’s legacy by sharing his firsthand experience with BRCA testing for…
When it comes to breast cancer, Runi Limary has more personal experience than average. She not only spent time working at a nonprofit for people with breast cancer, but she was diagnosed herself at the young age of twenty-eight. When ACLU lawyers reached out to her about the court case regarding BRCA1 and BRCA2 patents to see…
My Faulty Gene is a nonprofit organization that provides information and assistance to individuals whose family medical history suggests genetic testing might be helpful in identifying an increased risk of disease due to a genetic mutation. They believe that everyone in need of genetic testing should have access to it. We sat down with Kathy…