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Plan expands embryo cancer screening


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BELFAST, Northern Ireland, May 9, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- British women with inherited forms of cancer will be allowed to choose defect-free embryos when undergoing in-vitro fertilization, a report said Tuesday.

The plan by Britain's Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority would apply to carriers of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast-cancer genes as well as the BRCA1, BRCA2 or HNPCC colon-cancer genes.

The change by the government's top fertility watchdog is expected to be approved at a Belfast, Northern Ireland, meeting this week, the Times of London reported.

The screening procedure, known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, would be expanded to inherited cancers that have an 80 percent chance of developing vs. the current standard of 90 percent.

While backers argued the change would ultimately result in lower healthcare costs, opponents said the move would set the stage to screen for less serious genetic traits, the newspaper reported.

URL: www.upi.com 

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

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