Establishing a Program for Young Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer

Based on current evidence, high-risk individuals require different screening and risk reduction strategies from those deployed for the population at large. Potential benefits of specialized programs for women with high breast cancer risk include more cost-effective interventions as a result of patient stratification on the basis of risk and gathering a prospective registry with data coordinators in the team that can be directed to further improvements in patient care. Each high-risk program needs to be designed by its institution with consideration of local resources and country legislation, especially related to genetic issues. Development of a successful high-risk program includes identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, developing a promotion plan, choosing a risk assessment tool, defining “high risk, " and planning screening and risk reduction strategies for the specific population served by the program.