deCODE Launches deCODE BreastCancer(TM), a Genetic Test to Screen for Risk of the Common Forms of Bre...( Enables women to understand wheth...),Health

Enables women to understand whether they may benefit from more intensive screening, monitoring or preventive drug therapy

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- deCODE genetics (Nasdaq: DCGN) today announced the launch of deCODE BreastCancer(TM), a new tool for assessing risk of the common forms of breast cancer. For the first time, a woman concerned about breast cancer can speak with her physician about a genetic test to better understand her lifetime risk of developing the common forms of the disease.

The common forms of breast cancer result from the interplay of genetic as well as environmental and lifestyle factors and represent 95 percent of all breast cancers. These are distinct from the rare and essentially purely inherited forms of the disease due to mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which cause between 1 and 3 percent of breast cancers. deCODE BreastCancer(TM) is a DNA-based reference laboratory test performed using a simple blood sample or cheek swab, ordered by physicians on behalf of their patients.

"This test is simple and compelling because it provides a woman and her doctor a means of understanding her personal risk of developing the common forms of breast cancer. This information is well-validated, relevant to the vast majority of women, and independent of family history and other known risk factors. Combined with the high public awareness of the importance of screening, advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology and the availability of preventive drugs targeting estrogen receptors, I believe this test will help to save lives," said Dr. Kari Stefansson, M.D., Dr. Med., CEO of deCODE.

"DNA-based breast cancer risk assessment has to date been focused on detecti
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