Does genetic testing help define best treatment for breast cancer?

Defines risk not Rx: Genetic testing (brca) helps to define the risk for future breast and ovarian cancer. If one is diagnosed with breast cancer and is brca positive, then we will recommend additional surgery (remove both breasts and ovaries) to prevent a 2nd breast cancer. For people who do not have breast cancer and test brca positive, we may recommend the same to prevent the cancer diagnosis.

Headed there: We are not completely there yet, but that is the direction we are headed.

It can: Genetic testing of the breast cancer cells for HER2/neu can help determine which drugs might best treat the cancer. Onocotype DX and Mamma-Print are genetic tests that show if the cancer has a high risk of spreading to other parts of the body; if risk is high then chemotherapy would likely be offered. These genetic tests do NOT show if the cancer was due to an inherited gene mutation.