deCODE Launches deCODE BreastCancer(TM), a Genetic Test to Screen for Risk of the Common Forms of Bre...(eCODE BreastCancer(TM) test an additiona...),Health

The test also predicts which women are more likely to develop ER-positive breast cancer if they develop cancer at all. This is important because these women may be more likely to respond to prevention strategies with drugs like tamoxifen that target estrogen receptors. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recommends that women with a five-year risk of 1.66 percent or greater should be considered for preventive treatment with tamoxifen.

deCODE BreastCancer(TM) may also be used to modulate the risk profile of the early onset inherited forms of breast cancer in women who have tested positive for risk variants in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes.

How to order deCODE BreastCancer(TM)

Additional information and physician order forms for deCODE BreastCancer(TM) can be found at http://www.decodebreastcancer.com. The price of the test is $1625 dollars and deCODE facilitates filing for reimbursement with commercial insurers. Testing is performed in deCODE's CLIA-registered laboratory, which has analyzed the genomes of hundreds of thousands of people from around the globe.

About Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women, according to the World Health Organization. The ACS estimates that 182,400 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2008, resulting in more than 40,000 deaths.

Breast cancers are classified as ER-positive or ER-negative according to whether tumors are found to contain estrogen receptors. In women of European descent, approximately three-quarters of breast cancers are ER-positive, and in women of African descent, approximately 50 percent are ER-positive.

Although a substantial portion of risk of breast cancer is in
'/>"/>