CONTACT:
Greg Phillips, 202-434-2560, gphillips@aarp.org, @AARPmedia
WASHINGTON, DC — BRCA testing rates surged nearly 40% in the week of Angelina Jolie’s announcement that she carried the BRCA 1 gene mutation and had an elective double mastectomy, according to a new AARP Public Policy Institute study released today. This is the first report quantifying an increase in BRCA testing rates among women enrolled in a large US health insurance carrier.
Prior to Ms. Jolie’s announcement, women with a cancer diagnosis had more BRCA tests than women who did not, the AARP study found. However, during the week of her public announcement, the increase in BRCA testing among women who did not have a cancer diagnosis was nearly twice that of women with a cancer diagnosis. BRCA testing helps identify treatment options for women with the gene mutations before or after they are diagnosed with breast and/or ovarian cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.