Gene test adverts to be investigated

The effects of an advertising campaign for an inherited breast cancer test are to be investigated by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reports last week's Nature. The adverts, for a test manufactured by biotechnology firm Myriad Genetics, were featured on television, radio and in magazines from September 2002 until February 2003. The test aims to identify alterations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that confer a high risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Public health experts are concerned that the campaign may have caused unnecessary alarm: 'I think a lot of the 'worried well' might start to be worried even more' said Muin Khoury of the CDC.

Most cases of breast cancer are not inherited, but changes in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can increase a woman's lifetime risk of the disease from ten per cent to as much as 90 per cent. The CDC investigation will involve sending 2,400 questionnaires to consumers and doctors, to find out whether more women sought medical advice following the adverts, and if their knowledge or fears of genetic testing increased. Myriad's advertising targeted women with a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer, and the company says its aim was to raise awareness of the test amongst those women for whom it is medically relevant. Spokesman William Hockett said that the campaign boosted enquiries about the test by a factor of 40, and tripled referrals to cancer centres. He said the company supported the CDC's study, and is also carrying out its own investigation into the adverts' effects.

A newly formed US government committee will decide whether to tackle the issue of genetic tests sold directly to the public when it meets in June. The UK's Human Genetics Commission (HGC) is expected to make recommendations for regulating the sale of such tests later this year.