Doctors urge patients to use state-funded cascade testing for breast cancer risk
Doctors at Riga East University Hospital in Latvia are urging patients to use the state-funded cascade testing. If a relative has a confirmed inherited pathogenic mutation, all first-degree relatives can be screened free of charge.
Doctors at Riga East University Hospital in Latvia are encouraging patients and their families to make use of cascade testing, which the state offers and pays for, to help establish breast cancer risk. The option applies to people whose family already has a detected inherited mutation.
What cascade testing is
Cascade testing means that entirely healthy family members take tests to rule out a possible breast cancer diagnosis. It starts with the relative in whom a mutation has been found and then extends to that person's close family.
Who can be screened free of charge
If a relative has been found to carry an inherited pathogenic mutation, all first-degree relatives can undergo screening at no cost. The state covers the expense, and doctors are asking people to consider and use the opportunity.
