Homes Test Claims to Help Women Assess Risk of Breast Cancer

Women can take a home test they can order by mail that claims to help them assess their risk of breast cancer.

The Healthy Estrogen Test, which costs $197, determines an estrogen metabolism ratio known as the "2/16 ratio."

The ratio of 2OHE-1 to 16OHE-1 is believed by some to serve as a useful marker of risk for breast cancer, with women having a low ratio thought to be at higher risk.

Officials at Healthy Estrogen.com, which makes the test, claim the determination of risk for estrogen-sensitive diseases like breast cancer will one day be as common as cholesterol tests are now.

"Routine, perhaps yearly, estrogen metabolism testing will allow for early detection of high-risk women as well as a safe means to modify that risk. This is true preventive medicine," said Dr. Bradley Bongiovanni, Healthy Estrogen.com's medical director.

Bongiovanni told Medical Week that women who order the test kit collect a urine sample at home first thing in the morning and send it backto the lab, which completes its analysis within 10 days after receiving the sample. Once finished, the results are mailed back.

"The test gets shipped directly to your door and you can bypass the waiting game of scheduling an appointment with your doctor three to six months from now, as well as trying to persuade one's doctor to order the test," Bongiovanni said. "As we have seen with the rise in alternative medicine over the last decade, consumer demand is now driving healthcare changes."

Bongiovanni said the association between the 2/16 ratio and the risk for breast cancer is getting stronger. "There are dozens upon dozens of studies on this ratio as an important biomarker of risk for breast cancer," he said.

Moreover, Bongiovanni said breast cancer risk is modifiable with safe, non-toxic interventions. "There are at least 25 published clinical studies on food, plant and lifestyle-based interventions that positively impact the 2/16 ratio," he explained. "Obviously, this is much more attractive than prophylactic mastectomies or tamoxifen."

Other sources: Healthy Estrogen.ocom, Inc.