An estimate of the mutation frequencies in the normal population (Claus et al, 1996 Ford et al, 1998) and among Askenazi Jews (Struewing et al, 1997) provides the probability of the mutation in the proband, prior to the ascertainment of family history. The calculations are based on Bayes' rules of determination of the probability of a mutation, given family history. Although the method applies to both women and men, the proband is usually female. Aguilar at the Institute of Statistics and Decision Sciences, Duke University, U.S.A., which calculates the probability that a particular family member carries a germ-line mutation of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. An individual who undergoes genetic counseling before testing can be told the probabilities that he or she is a carrier, given the family history.īRCAPRO is a program, developed by G. In addition, BRCA1 mutations' carriers have a 65% lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer (Easton et al, 1995).įamily members at higher risk of breast cancer can now be tested to see whether they are BRCA1 or BRCA2 carriers. Carriers of BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations from families with high cancer risk have been estimated to have an 85% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer (Bennett et al, 1999). Both BRCA1 and BRCA2 are considered to be responsible for a similar proportion (40%) of inherited breast cancer (Bennett et al, 1999) but the majority (81%) of the breast-ovarian cancer families are due to BRCA1 whereas BRCA2 is found in the majority (76%) of families with male and female breast cancer (Ford et al, 1998). Breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 have recently been identified (Miki et al, 1994 Wooster et al, 1995). A family history of breast cancer is present in approximately 10% of overall cases. The risk of developing breast cancer in the normal population of the United States and Europe is 8%-10%. About BrCaProīreast cancer is the second most common cancer in women (after skin cancer). Cyrillic 3 uses the BRCAPro and Mendel software programs to assist in genetic risk assessment.

Brcapro software download