SALT LAKE CITY, May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN), a leader in molecular diagnostic testing and precision medicine, announced today that JCO Precision Oncology published a real-world study suggesting that the results of RiskScore® led clinicians to recommend breast cancer screening aligned with patients’ individual risk. RiskScore, Myriad’s clinically validated breast cancer risk assessment tool integrated into its MyRisk® Hereditary Cancer Test, combines a polygenic risk score (PRS) validated for all ancestries with the widely-used Tyrer-Cuzick model to predict five-year and remaining lifetime risk of breast cancer.
The study, “Association of Polygenic-based Breast Cancer Risk Prediction with Patient Management”, was first shared at the 2024 ASCO® Annual Meeting. Key findings include:
- RiskScore predicted a different risk level than Tyrer-Cuzick for nearly 20% of patients
- Patients with a ≥20% lifetime risk of breast cancer predicted by RiskScore were significantly more likely to have guidelines-aligned screening, such as mammography, breast MRI, and genetic counseling compared to those with <20% lifetime risk.
- RiskScore results appeared to influence the way clinicians managed patients at increased risk of breast cancer
“Polygenic-based risk predictors are relatively new, and few data have been gathered about how they are being used in clinical practice,” said Allison Kurian, MD, MSc, Professor of Medicine and of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University School of Medicine and senior author on the study. “This study offered reassurance that patients undergo appropriate breast screening after RiskScore testing and suggests that clinicians are considering RiskScore results to make recommendations about risk-based screening for their patients.”
“This real-world, large-scale study represents important progress in understanding how polygenic-based risk scores influence medical management tailored to a patient’s individual risk level,” said Katie Johansen Taber, PhD, VP Clinical Product Research & Partnerships, Myriad Genetics. “With MyRisk with RiskScore, patients may gain insights into their genetically driven risk of developing breast cancer, and clinicians and patients can work together to make informed, proactive decisions on how to best manage that risk.”
About the Study
To conduct this study, patients’ RiskScore results were de-identified and linked with insurance claims data to determine what type of breast cancer screening was undertaken in the one year following genetic testing. Mammography in those under age 40, breast MRI, and genetic counseling, all recommended by guidelines for individuals at increased risk of breast cancer, were compared before and after receiving RiskScore results. The study found that patients with a 20% or greater lifetime risk of breast cancer predicted by either RiskScore or Tyrer-Cuzick were more likely to undergo enhanced screening, while patients with less than 20% lifetime risk did not appear to undertake enhanced screening. These findings suggest that clinicians used the RiskScore results to inform patient management.
About MyRisk® Hereditary Cancer Test with RiskScore®
MyRisk Hereditary Cancer Test with RiskScore evaluates 48 genes associated with hereditary cancer risk to identify genetic changes associated with an increased cancer risk for 11 different cancers. When combined with family history and other clinical factors such as breast density, MyRisk with RiskScore provides eligible patients of all ancestries with a five-year and remaining lifetime breast cancer risk assessment individualized to them.
About Myriad Genetics
Myriad Genetics is a leading molecular diagnostic testing and precision medicine company dedicated to advancing health and well-being for all. Myriad Genetics develops and offers molecular tests that help assess the risk of developing disease or disease progression and guide treatment decisions across medical specialties where molecular insights can significantly improve patient care and lower healthcare costs. For more information, visit www.myriad.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements that the study represents important progress in understanding how polygenic-based risk scores influence medical management tailored to a patient’s individual risk level, that the study suggests clinicians are considering RiskScore results to make recommendations about risk-based screening for their patients, and that the company believes MyRisk with RiskScore may help patients gain insights into their genetically driven risk of developing breast cancer, supporting informed, proactive decision-making between patients and clinicians about how to best manage that risk. These “forward-looking statements” are management’s expectations of future events as of the date hereof and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, conditions, and events to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated. Such factors include those risks described in the company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 28, 2025, as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in the company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. Myriad is not under any obligation, and it expressly disclaims any obligation, to update or alter any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as required by law.
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