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The price tag of genetic tests for breast and ovarian cancer can reach thousands of dollars.
What if genetic testing was cheaper?
California-based Color Genomics has launched a $249 genetic test that can be done at home and analyzes a saliva sample for mutations in the breast cancer gene BRCA1 and BRCA2, which identify a woman’s risk for cancer, according to U.S. News & World Report.
“Color’s goal is to democratize access to genetic testing, starting with breast and ovarian cancer risk testing,” Elad Gil, one of the company’s co-founders, told NPR Health.
This could mean greater accessibility for genetic testing among Latinas.
Latinas are 20% more likely to die from breast cancer than white non-Hispanic women at the same age and stage. Yet genetic testing isn’t as common among Latinas.
Currently, doctors urge women with a family history of breast and ovarian cancer to have a genetic test, but according to Marie-Claire King, who discovered BRCA1, a lot more women could be carrying one of the mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 putting them “at significantly higher risk of cancer.”
Patients can ask their doctor to order a test kit from the company.
By The Numbers
25.1
percent
of Latinos remain without health insurance coverage
