Testing Ashkenazi Jewish Women for Mutations Predisposing to Breast Cancer in Genes Other Than BRCA1 and BRCA2

To the Editor Walsh et al¹ present data on 1007 Jewish women with breast cancer who were sequenced for 23 candidate genes. There were 111 carriers of a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation identified, 29 carriers of a CHEK2 mutation, 1 carrier of an NBN mutation, and 1 carrier of a BRIP1 mutation. The authors use these data to support their position that use of a 23-gene panel is preferable to testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 alone. We look at the same data and conclude that testing should be limited to BRCA1 and BRCA2.