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Jayant S. Vaidya, MS (Surg), DNB; Michael Baum, ChM, FRCS, MD
University College London, United Kingdom

JAMA. 1997;278(4):290.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—In the provisional recommendations for follow-up care of individuals with inherited predisposition to cancer,¹ annual mammography is recommended beginning between the ages of 25 and 35 years, based on "expert opinion" only.

This might have seemed reasonable but for the publication, 1 month later, of 2 reports in Nature^2,3 and an accompanying commentary⁴ which reveal that BRCA genes, acting as "caretakers," are of great importance in DNA repair. Consequently, a person lacking functional BRCA genes would be exquisitely sensitive to even small amounts of ionizing radiation.

Would an expert now want to subject these women to the hazard of mammography? . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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