Reports from Department of Surgery Highlight Recent Findings in Breast Cancer (Influence of the Angelina Jolie Announcement and Insurance…

Insurance Weekly News

Reports from Department of Surgery Highlight Recent Findings in Breast Cancer (Influence of the Angelina Jolie Announcement and Insurance Reimbursement on Practice Patterns for Hereditary Breast Cancer)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Investigators publish new report on Oncology - Breast Cancer. According to news reporting from Seoul, South Korea, by VerticalNews journalists, research stated, "Lack of awareness, the stigma of carrying a genetic mutation, and economic factors are barriers to acceptance of genetic testing or appropriate risk management. We aimed to investigate the influence of Angelina Jolie's announcement of her medical experience and also health insurance reimbursement for gene testing on practice patterns for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC)."

Funders for this research include Soonchunhyang University, Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from the Department of Surgery, "A survey regarding changes in practice patterns for HBOC before and after the announcement was conducted online. The rate of gene testing was obtained from the National Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database. From May to August 2016, 70 physicians responded to the survey. Genetic testing recommendations and prophylactic management were increased after the announcement. Risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy and contralateral prophylactic mastectomy was significantly increased in carriers with breast cancer. The testing rate increased annually."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "Health insurance and a celebrity announcement were associated with increased genetic testing."

For more information on this research see: Influence of the Angelina Jolie Announcement and Insurance Reimbursement on Practice Patterns for Hereditary Breast Cancer. Journal of Breast Cancer, 2017;20(2):203-207.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting J. Lee, Dept. of Surgery, Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital, Seoul, South Korea. Additional authors for this research include S. Kim, E. Kang, S. Park, Z. Kim and M.H Lee.

Keywords for this news article include: Asia, Seoul, Genetics, Oncology, South Korea, Breast Cancer, Women's Health, Health Insurance, Diagnostics and Screening.