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Current NHS advice says women with BRCA1/2 mutations, known to have been carried by Angelina Jolie, should undergo annual MRI scans in their 30s
Women who carry genes strongly linked to breast cancer should all be screened for the disease starting at their 30th birthday, doctors say.
Current NHS advice says women with BRCA1/2 mutations, known to have been carried by Angelina Jolie, should undergo annual MRI scans in their 30s.
But experts are now calling for a shakeup of the screening program, saying women with three other telltale genetic quirks should also be invited two decades earlier.
A coalition of international cancer researchers found that regular, early screening could halve breast cancer deaths among these women.
Mutations in the ATM, CHEK2 and PALB2 genes are just as common as the genetic peculiarity of the Hollywood actress Jolie, which is carried by around one in 500 women.
The study, published in the journal JAMA Oncology, analyzed detailed medical and genetic data from 32,000 breast cancer patients and a similar number without the disease.
The researchers used a simulation model to calculate the risk of developing the disease by age.
Women with mutations in the ATM, CHEK2 and PALB2 genes had up to 40 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer at some point in their lives.
The team then predicted that offering annual MRI scans to women who carry the DNA quirks between the ages of 30 and 35 - and then offering a mammogram every year when they turn 40 - would halve the mortality rate.
Dr. Kathryn Lowry, lead author from the University of Washington, added: "It has been difficult to develop screening guidelines for these women because there have been no clinical studies to inform when and how screening should begin."
NHS guidelines state that all women with the BRCA1, BRCA2 or PALB2 gene should have an MRI scan every year from their 30s.
But there is no recommendation for ATM or CHEK2 carriers.
Current NHS rules mean all other women will be offered mammograms when they turn 50 and asked to be scanned every three years until they are in their 70s.
However, guidelines in the US recommend starting screening at 40 for women carrying ATM and CHEK2.
Dr. Study co-author Allison Kurian from Stanford University said: “Overall, we suggest slightly earlier screening than current guidelines suggest for some women with these variants.
“Our results suggest that starting MRI between the ages of 30 and 35 appears to be beneficial for women with one of the three variants.”
More than two million women in the UK undergo breast cancer screenings every year and the checks are credited with saving 1,300 lives each year.
Detecting cancer early dramatically increases the chances of survival.