Research finds that even if a woman has BRCA mutations, her risk is relatively low unless she had a close relative with the disease
Screening for breast cancer genes could be leading women to undergo needless mastectomies, experts have warned.
A new study by the University of Exeter has found that the risk of developing cancer by the age of 60, if carrying the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, is as low as 18 per cent, but women are being led to believe it is as much as 80 per cent.
Women, including the actress Angelina Jolie have chosen to have breast surgery to prevent cancer based on screening for the gene mutations.
But researchers warned that the risk has been calculated based on women who were screened for BRCA because they had already had breast cancer symptoms or a family history of the disease.