Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of recommending screening for the BRCA 1 gene for women who have a mother who has died from (a) breast and (b) ovarian cancers.

The current eligibility criteria for genetic testing are set out in the NHS National Genomic Test Directory. The aim is to offer individuals at higher risk of developing cancer (those with pathogenic variants in their genes) clinical pathways to support them to manage their risk, offer their family members testing and ultimately lead to more cancers being prevented or detected earlier. The directory is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/national-genomic-test-directories/

NHS England is currently funding the Retrospective Genetic Testing Programme to offer genetic testing to people who have not yet received a test, in line with the current eligibility criteria set out in the directory. More information is available at the following link:

https://brca-direct.icr.ac.uk/privacy_policy

All individuals who test positive will be added to the National Inherited Cancer Predisposition Register. More information is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/our-work/genomics/nicpr

Following this, individuals will be invited for screening in line with guidance available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/breast-screening-higher-risk-women-surveillance-protocols/protocols-for-surveillance-of-women-at-higher-risk-of-developing-breast-cancer

The UK National Screening Committee has not been asked to consider whether a screening programme for BRCA1 would be appropriate for women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, and no cost effectiveness estimates have been made of such a policy.