An evaluation of gender discrepancies in genetic referrals for BRCA testing for indicated malignancies.
Authors: Wesley Smith, Kayla Smith, William Sessions, Connor Evins, Michael Baker, Mary Blumer
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2021)

10584 Background: Tumor suppressing genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 were discovered in 1990 and 1994, respectively, with mutations linked to hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndromes (HBOCs). The discovery of these mutations has led to screening of at-risk patient populations and their family members. Women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations are generally recommended to have prophylactic bilateral mastectomies and oophorectomies to decrease their future risk of cancer. While the initial discovery mostly focused on cancers in women, research has shown that BRCA mutations increase the risk of other cancers such as prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer, that also affect men. Previous research suggests that men are three times less likely to receive genetic testing in cancer driven by a 10:1 disparity in HBOC genetic testing. This was thought to be due to the lack of information on the importance of HBOC testing along with social roles in health. We wanted to evaluate the magnitude of the potential gender gap in BRCA testing in men compared to women. Methods: This was an IRB-approved, single center retrospective study to evaluate the rate of referrals to genetics for BRCA testing. Eligible patients had a personal history of cancer meeting criteria for BRCA testing per NCCN recommendations. Chart review was performed for patients with ovarian cancer, female breast cancer 45 years and younger, female triple negative breast cancer 60 years and younger, metastatic prostate cancer, all male breast cancer that have made an office visit since 2017, and pancreatic cancer since 2019. Rates of referral for genetic testing was the primary outcome and the groups were compared via the Chi-Square test. Results: 1,320 patients were included in the study, of which 664 were men and 656 were women. 128/664 (19.3%) of men were referred to genetics for screening compared to 527/656 (80.3%) for women ( p &lt;.001). Additionally, 42/128 (32.8%) men who were referred for screening did not complete genetic screening compared to 72/527 (13.7%) women ( p &lt;.001). A total of 62/541 (11.5%) patients who completed screening had either a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. Conclusions: In our study, men were referred for BRCA testing significantly less than women for primary cancers, despite recommendation from the NCCN. In addition, men were also more than twice as likely not to complete genetic screening even if referred. The integration of genetics and oncology will continue to grow as personalized medicine continues to drive more treatment options. Closing this gender gap is important not only for familial screening purposes but also for treatment implications as patients with germline BRCA mutations are eligible for poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (e.g. olaparib) in both metastatic prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer. Further quality improvement initiatives are needed in order to close this gap by increasing education of the importance of BRCA testing in men.