Segment: Home genetic test for ovarian cancer

A free home genetic test for women who are at risk for ovarian cancer is available through MAGENTA, which s short for MAking GENetic Testing Accessible. Women who are age 30 and over, and who have had breast cancer but no genetic testing or who have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, may apply for ovarian cancer genetic testing by going to the MAGENTA website. 

In this video, UW Medicine women's cancer expert Dr. Elizabeth Swisher talks about the MAGENTA project. Swisher's research and clinical focus is on cancer genetics and on the prevention, early detection  and treatment of ovarian cancer.  

She said, “One in 70 women will get ovarian cancer during their lifetime. It is a deadly cancer and we have no effective screening for it. Unike breast cancer, we have no early detection, and when women get it, it is usually advanced at the time they get their cancer diagnosis.” The MAGENTA study is screening for much more than the BRCA 1 or 2 gene mutations.

 “We’re testing for thousands of different mutations, but in 19 different genes,” Swisher said.  “We’re not going to prevent all ovarian cancers through this strategy." She said about 20 percent of ovarian cancers are hereditary. "But there are a lot of lives we can save if we identify those women who are at risk,” she said.

Swisher discusses the topic in this downloadable video segment.