African-American women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer are only about one fifth as likely as white counterparts to receive genetic counseling for 

testing (OR 0.22; 95% CI; 0.12–0.40), according to a recent case-control study from Philadelphia.  

The study included 408 women with a family history of either disease, of whom 217 received genetic counseling and 191 did not. Even after adjusting for the probability of a 

 mutation, socioeconomic characteristics, breast and ovarian cancer risk perception and worry, attitudes about the risk and benefits of 

 testing, and primary-care physician discussion of 

 testing, researchers calculated an odds ratio of 0.28 (95% CI; 0.09–0.89) for African-American women receiving counseling.  

Armstrong K, Micco E, Carney A, et al. Racial differences in the use of 

 testing among women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer. 

African-American women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer are only about one fifth as likely as white counterparts to receive genetic counseling for BRCA 1/2 testing (OR 0.22; 95% CI; 0.12–0.40), according to a recent case-control study from Philadelphia.