A new program designed to identify genes that may cause ovarian cancer has been launched in Melbourne this week, aimed at testing over 11,000 women to see if they are hidden carriers of the BRCA gene mutations.
Before the Traceback program there had been no active program dedicated to finding women who may be hidden carriers of BRCA mutated genes, and so far has found at least 1500 women who have unknowingly inherited the gene.
According to Professor of Genomics, David Bowtell, the program has the potential to prevent thousands of cases of cancers a year, with the BRCA mutated gene also responsible for breast and prostate cancer.