Katrina Trivers, PhD, MSPH
Katrina Trivers, PhD, MSPH, is an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and lead author of an article reporting on a survey of 1,878 US physicians.
Problem: According to a recent article published in Cancer, only 34% of family physicians, 41% of general internists and 57% of gynecologists surveyed reported adhering to guidelines in referring high-risk patients for genetic counseling and testing. Among the reasons for the low adherence rates: The guidelines are complicated… and the various organizations define high risk differently.
Protect yourself: Visit www.USPreventiveServicesTaskForce.org/uspstf05/brcagen/brcagenrs.htm or www.Cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/risk/BRCA for more information on genetic risk… then talk with your doctor about your family history of breast and ovarian cancer, including who was diagnosed and at what age, if this information is available. Reassuring: For women whose genetic test results show that they do carry an abnormal BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, additional screening tests, medication and/or prophylactic surgery can greatly reduce the risk of succumbing to cancer.