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The widely used genetic test for breast cancer risk can miss mutations that help cause the disease, according to a new study in the United States, a finding that is likely to increase the pressure to develop more thorough testing methods.
The test, which looks for mutations in genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2, missed them in about 12 percent of breast cancer patients from families with multiple cases of breast or ovarian cancer, according to the study's authors at the University of Washington.
Experts cautioned that the chances of such false negative results were much smaller for women who were not from such high-risk families, so that most women who tested negative had little cause for concern. Also, if a woman is tested for the same specific mutation her mother has, the test is not likely to miss it if it is there.
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