Annual cancer testing proposed for at-risk women

Women under the age of 50 at greater risk of breast cancer due to family history or genetic predisposition should be checked annually as part of an organised surveillance programme, according to the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa).

The higher the risk of developing the disease, the earlier the surveillance should begin, Hiqa says, in a report on behalf of the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP). Included in the Hiqa recommendations are:

nAnnual MRI surveillance from age 20 to 49 for women who have a high probability of breast cancer before age 30. These are women with the genetic mutation TP53;