BRCA Testing Patterns in U.S. Breast Cancer Patients: Literature Review

A United States-focused targeted literature review summarizes evidence on real-world patterns of germline BRCA mutation testing in breast cancer patients. The review includes 35 publications representing 32 unique studies published up to September 2024, authored by Kathryn Mishkin. It examines trends from the early 2000s onward and identifies barriers to testing.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal trends in BRCA testing rates based on reported increases from 7% to 47%.
• Identify systemic barriers to genetic testing based on reported factors like cost, insurance, and guideline clarity.
• Assess knowledge gaps and attitudes among patients and physicians based on reported misconceptions and confidence levels.
• Evaluate the impact of genetic counseling access on testing rates based on its reported role as both a driver and barrier.

Strengths

• Includes 35 publications representing 32 unique studies, providing a synthesized evidence base.
• Explicitly documents specific barriers to testing, such as high costs and inadequate insurance coverage.
• Released under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license, allowing for broad reuse and analysis.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The description notes most included studies had data collection periods prior to 2020, potentially limiting recency.

Provenance

Source

Kathryn Mishkin

Collection Method

Targeted literature review of published studies.

Time Range

Studies published up to September 2024, examining trends since the early 2000s.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-27 04:14:40; freshness should be verified.

Geography

United States