Olivia Munn recently revealed in an Instagram post that a free, easy tool saved her life. Her ob-gyn used a questionnaire designed to calculate a person’s risk of breast cancer, which revealed Munn had an increased chance of developing the disease. That led to further tests and an early diagnosis of Luminal B cancer in both breasts and quick treatment.
The Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool, which her doctor used, isn’t new. It doesn’t involve any high-tech gadgets, doesn’t require a doctor, and doesn’t even cost anything. Experts say more women should know about it and complete it after they turn 35. Here’s what to know.
What is the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool?
Released in 1989 by the National Cancer Institute, the online questionnaire takes less than five minutes to complete and pretty accurately predicts a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer. “This calculator is a great first step that women can do on their own and discuss the results with their primary care doctor or gynecologist,” says Dr. Jennifer Litton, professor of breast medical oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
It relies on a model built from many aspects of women’s health data including their age, their race and ethnicity, their family history of breast cancer, when they began their periods, and, if they have children, how old they were when they had their first one. The model matches these and other features with breast-cancer outcomes of women with similar characteristics and provides two risk assessments: a woman’s five-year risk of developing breast cancer, and her lifetime risk of the disease.
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The questionnaire—also known as the Gail Model after its developer Dr. Mitchell Gail at the National Cancer Institute—is about 98% accurate in predicting risk of breast cancer in most women. It’s less accurate in women of color, who were less represented in the original model’s database, but the model is constantly…
