'These results remind us how many women who should be tested for these genetic mutations are not being screened.'

The questionnaire, filled out by women coming to the hospital for mammograms, may also allow earlier diagnosis of cancer, concludes the study, published in the November issue of Cancer.

'Breast-Cancer Genes'

The eight-month study included about 14,000 women who came to the Massachusetts General Hospital's Avon Breast Evaluation Center in Boston. The women completed a questionnaire on their family history of breast or ovarian cancer, whether they had developed any tumors, and other related factors.

The information was then downloaded into a database available to the patients' doctors. The data was analyzed in order to evaluate cancer risk among women who carried mutations in the so-called breast cancer genes -- BRCA1 or BRCA2.

Among the 1,764 study volunteers who had been diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer, 20.6 percent had family histories that indicated an elevated risk of one of the tumor-associated mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2, the researchers found.

Tried in Very Few Centers

"We wanted to show we could identify these high-risk women with an automated system that provides accurate information without requiring more work for our staff, an approach that has been tried in very few centers worldwide," study senior author Dr. Kevin Hughes of the MGH Surgical Oncology Division, said in a prepared statement.

"In addition to verifying the utility of this strategy, these results remind us how many women who should be tested for these genetic mutations are not being screened," Hughes said.

More information: The US National Cancer Institute has more about breast cancer screening.