Study: Understanding inherited breast cancer risk in young Black women

RELEVANCE

Most relevant for: • Black women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer at age 50 or younger.

It may also be relevant for:

• people with breast cancer
• people with triple negative breast cancer
• people newly diagnosed with cancer

Relevance: High

Strength of Science: Medium-High

Research Timeline: Post Approval

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What is this study about?

In this study, researchers wanted to understand how often inherited gene mutations may contribute to early-onset breast cancer (breast cancer diagnosed before age 50) in Black women.

Why is this study important?

Black women are more likely than women of other racial and ethnic groups to develop breast cancer at a younger age and are more likely to die from the disease. Hereditary breast cancer accounts for about 5 to 10 percent of all breast cancer cases. People with inherited mutations in hereditary breast cancer genes frequently develop breast cancer at a much younger age, often before age 50.

Researchers wanted to better understand how often early-onset breast cancer in Black women may be due to an inherited mutation.

The results highlight the importance of genetic testing in Black women with early-onset breast cancer.

Study findings

The study enrolled Black women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer at age 50 years or younger between 2005 and 2018. Participants were identified through state cancer registries in Florida and Tennessee.

Participants completed questionnaires, allowed researchers to review their medical records, and provided saliva samples for genetic testing.

The researchers compared women with mutations in hereditary breast cancer genes to women without mutations. They looked at their age at diagnosis, tumor characteristics (such as triple-negative status), and family history of breast cancer.

Among nearly 700 participants:

• Just over 15% had a mutation in a known breast and/or ovarian cancer gene.
• Most mutations were in the BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2 genes.
• Triple-negative breast cancers were more common among women with BRCA1 mutations than among women without inherited mutations.
• A family history of breast cancer was more frequent among those with BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2 mutations than among women without inherited mutations.
• More than half of breast cancers among women with BRCA1 mutations occurred by age 40, while diagnoses among those with mutations in other genes were distributed more evenly up to age 50.

The results show that inherited gene mutations linked to breast cancer are relatively common in young Black women diagnosed with breast cancer. Identifying hereditary risk is important because it can lead to targeted treatment and long-term prevention and screening planning. It can also provide important information for family members who may share the same mutation.

Similar to previous studies, this study found that BRCA1 mutations were strongly associated with triple-negative breast cancer. The association between BRCA1 and triple-negative breast cancer is especially important because triple-negative disease is often more aggressive and has fewer targeted treatment options than hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, the most common type of breast cancer.

Current guidelines recommend genetic counseling and testing for anyone diagnosed with breast cancer at age 50 or younger and anyone with triple-negative breast cancer at any age. Despite these guidelines, prior research has shown that many women don’t receive guideline-recommended genetic testing.

Since inherited mutations were found even in women without a strong family history of cancer, the results support the use of genetic counseling and testing for young Black women diagnosed with breast cancer, especially those diagnosed at age 50 or younger.

What Does This Mean for Me?

This study supports genetic counseling and testing for women diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age, including young Black women.

If you are a Black woman diagnosed with invasive breast cancer at age 50 or younger genetic testing for an inherited mutation is recommended, even if you do not have a strong family history of cancer. If you had genetic testing years ago, ask whether your test included a full panel of breast cancer genes or whether updated testing is needed.

Genetic testing may affect your treatment, screening, and prevention choices. Your close relatives may also want to consider genetic counseling and testing, because your results may change the screening and prevention options recommended for them.

This study is an important step toward including more young Black women in hereditary cancer research. If you are interested in research, ask your healthcare providers about studies, registries, or clinical trials that may be available and visit FORCE’s Research Search and Enroll Tool.

Reference

Beasley HK, Shah T, Tinker RJ, et al. Clinicopathologic characteristics of early-onset breast cancer among unselected young Black women. Cancer. 2026 Jun 15;132(12):e70402.

Disclosure: FORCE receives funding from industry sponsors, including companies that manufacture cancer drugs, tests and devices. All XRAYS articles are written independently of any sponsor and are reviewed by members of our Scientific Advisory Board prior to publication to assure scientific integrity.

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posted 7/13/2026