Updated Tool More Accurately Estimates Breast Cancer Risk for Asian Americans - NCI Cancer Bulletin for May 31, 2011 - National Cancer Institute

Updated Tool More Accurately Estimates Breast Cancer Risk for Asian Americans

NCI researchers have updated a model for estimating breast cancer risk so that it is more accurate for Asian and Pacific Islander American (APA) women. The updated Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool (BCRAT) can now better estimate risk for American women who identify themselves as Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hawaiian, other Pacific Islander, or other Asian. The model is described in a paper published online May 11 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Mitchell H. Gail, of NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, and his colleagues used data from the Asian American Breast Cancer Study (AABCS), combined with data from NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program, to update the model. The resulting algorithm was tested using data from approximately 4,000 APA women in the Women's Health Initiative, a study of health issues among postmenopausal women.

Intended for use by health professionals, the BCRAT calculates 5-year and lifetime estimates of a woman's risk of developing invasive breast cancer based on her medical history, reproductive history, and family history of the disease. In the updated model, the weight of individual factors and the calculations used to assess the interactions of multiple factors have been adjusted to more accurately predict the risk of breast cancer for APA women.

NCI Cancer Bulletin for May 31, 2011 - National Cancer Institute