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…
Breast cancer remains the number one most common cancer among women in the United States, and the number two leading cause of cancer deaths among women.1 Approximately 20% of all breast cancer cases are associated with a family history of breast cancer, and approximately 10% are hereditary (due to pathogenic variant or mutation in a gene).2,3…
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…
How would you respond if a patient asked, "What is my risk of getting breast cancer"? We may initially reference the national average: 1 in 8 (or about 13% of) people assigned female at birth (AFAB) develop breast cancer.1 However, we live in an age of personalized medicine; this statistic cannot be applied universally to every patient. Further,…
Every individual's genetic makeup is unique, containing the blueprint for their health, including susceptibility to diseases and potential response to treatments. But understanding your genes is like deciphering a complex code. DNA varies slightly from person to person, and interpreting the medical significance of those differences, or variants,…
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…
According to studies, 93% of high-risk women who qualify for breast MRI have not had one.1 97% of women at risk for hereditary breast/ovarian cancer have not had genetic testing.2 These healthcare gaps mean high-risk patients are being missed when it comes to proactive and preventative care. As a practicing OB-GYN for twenty years, I have seen…
In the fall of 2021, my eighteen-year-old child was making an appointment for an annual check-up, then handed me the phone and said, “Mom, don’t you need a check-up? Didn’t you miss your appointment last year because of COVID?” I had, in fact, missed my annual check-up and mammogram. A few days later, after the check-up and mammogram, I…
When it comes to understanding the genetic basis of diseases, evidence plays a crucial role. Gene-disease validity measures the strength of evidence associating pathogenic variants or changes in a gene to a genetic disease or syndrome. In the context of breast cancer, which affects approximately 1 in every 8 women, grasping gene-disease validity…
We recently met with Texas OB/GYN, Dr. Noel Boyd. We learned about her passion for caring for the whole patient and helping to identify those at increased risk for cancer so that they can make proactive choices to address their risk. Dr. Boyd’s practice implemented The CARE ProgramTM, which stands for “Comprehensive Assessment of Risk and…