A recent study conducted by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC") and appearing in the Journal Cancer concludes that misdiagnosis by doctors -- that is, inappropriate identification -- of women of average risk for breast and ovarian cancer leads to recommended screenings in many cases where the potential harm exceeds any benefits likely to be obtained. Additionally, many women at high risk are not recommended for those same screenings.

Researchers sent a survey to more than 3,000 doctors across the United States who routinely see women patients -- family doctors, internists and obstetricians/gynecologists -- and asked them to look at profiles of a number of hypothetical patients and reply as to how they would advise and treat them. Some of the profiles were of women at low or average risk for developing breast and ovarian cancer, while others were given attributes considered to be higher risk.

The findings were not encouraging. Only 41 percent of the doctors surveyed recommended referrals for genetic counseling and testing of women considered high risk, with, conversely, nearly 30 percent recommending testing for average-risk patients.

Genetic testing is often recommended when a woman potentially has what doctors call a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, and researchers stated the possibility of this in some of their hypotheticals, which many doctors did not pick up on. Having the mutation greatly increases the odds that a woman will develop breast or ovarian cancer, and testing can quickly determine whether the mutation is present. This is important, because women who are positive need to know early and often undergo aggressive therapies.

Study findings indicated that a woman at high risk will most often get an accurate diagnosis and proper recommendation from this combination of factors: a female ob-gyn in an urban setting.

Related Resource: Los Angeles Times, "Breast and ovarian cancer: Doctors' Rx for genetic testing may miss the mark" July 25, 2011