WOMEN with a family history of breast cancer are being forced to wait so long for test results that some choose to have their breasts removed before they know whether they have the faulty gene, say health campaigners.

A report by the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer says that women are suffering “agonising delays” of two years or more for genetic test results.

Many women had undergone private tests in the meantime, but others had resorted to mastectomies rather than risk developing the disease.

The charity said that in some parts of the country tests could take just a few weeks, but it emphasised that there were wide variations between laboratories and that the process was causing unnecessary anguish. It said that some women tested in 2002 were still waiting.

In 2003 the Government promised that by 2006 anyone taking a genetic test should get their results within ten weeks.

The Government said yesterday that laboratories were “making excellent progress” towards meeting the goal.

About 5 per cent of the 41,000 cases of breast cancer diagnosed in Britain each year are due to inherited faults in genes associated with strong family histories of the disease. A further 10 to 15 per centoccur in women with moderate family histories.

Most genetic tests look for changes or faults in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. A woman with a fault in one of these is up to 85 per cent likely to develop breast cancer, and up to 40 per cent likely to develop ovarian cancer.

Genetic testing involves a two-step process. First, in the diagnostic part, a living relative with breast cancer is tested. Next, the healthy person is tested to see if she has inherited the fault. This is called predictive testing.

The charity surveyed 27 genetic counsellors and more than 50 women who had been genetically tested. More than half of the counsellors had patients who had opted to have their breasts removed while waiting for their results or the results for an affected relative.

Jeremy Hughes, the chief executive of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said that it was unacceptable that women were forced to put their lives on hold while waiting for vital test results.

He said: “The decision to take such a test is extremely personal, complex and difficult enough. That some then feel compelled to make crucial healthcare decisions out of fear of developing breast cancer while waiting for their test results is appalling.”

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said that waiting times for results had been a problem. She said that an extra £18 million in funding had been allocated to NHS genetic laboratories to speed up the process. “They are making excellent progress towards this important goal.”

Explore Health News

• Swine flu

Times Recommends

• Milk: do we need a dairy godmother?
• DIY: the women doing it for themselves
• First double portrait of Princes unveiled