Noble Program Pioneers Cancer Risk Assessment

SPRINGFIELD — Dr. Steven Schonholz, director of the Comprehensive Breast Program at Noble Hospital, is one of the first physicians in the nation to make the BREVAGen predictive risk test available to his patients. Clinically validated, BREVAGen is the latest advance in assessing a woman’s unique risk of developing non familial or sporadic breast cancer.

“One of my interests is developing ways to improve the practice of medicine and ultimately provide personalized care for my patients,”said Schonholz. “BREVAGen allows me to assess each of my patients’ personal risk of developing breast cancer. Having this knowledge provides me with the ability to discuss breast-cancer risk-reduction strategies, including more frequent or varied screening and treatment options, to help women be more proactive and as in control of their risk for breast cancer as they can be.”

BREVAGen is a clinically validated predictive risk test that more accurately identifies a woman’s unique risk of developing sporadic, estrogen-positive breast cancer. BREVAGen examines a woman’s clinical risk factors, such as their lifetime exposure to estrogen, combined with scientifically validated markers to determine each patient’s personalized five-year and lifetime risk of developing breast cancer.

BREVAGen is supplied by Phenogen Sciences, a subsidiary of Genetic Technologies Limited. The BREVAGen predictive risk test is administered in a physician’s office using a simple, non-invasive oral swab. Following analysis in a CLIA-certified laboratory, physicians receive a comprehensive genetic risk prediction report to review with the patient. The patient’s risk of breast cancer is calculated by combining their relative risk score from seven genetic markers, called SNPs (single nucleotidepolymorphisms), with factors that comprise the patient’s clinical and reproductive history, including current age, age at menarche, age at live first birth, and race or ethnicity.

The BREVAGen test provides five-year and lifetime predictive risk assessments to more accurately evaluate the patient’s risk for developing sporadic breast cancer, regardless of family history or previous indeterminate test results.