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Talking about moderate risk without causing alarm
A CHEK2 result can frighten a woman into asking for surgery she doesn’t need. How to give a calibrated picture.
The HYPHAE team
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6
min read
Moderate-risk genes such as CHEK2 and ATM raise breast cancer risk, but much less than BRCA1 or BRCA2. Women often hear “gene” and assume the worst, especially if a friend with BRCA has had a mastectomy.
Four habits that help
• Acknowledge first. Name the fear and its source before giving numbers.
• Use natural frequencies. “Out of 100 women like you…” is easier to grasp than “two to three times higher”.
• Be honest about uncertainty. Family history shifts the figure; offer to calculate it.
• Give the usual plan, then hand back the choice. Ask what matters most to her.
Avoid both false alarm and false reassurance.
Icon arrays, where 100 dots show how many women are affected, are a simple tool to support that conversation. They work on screen during the consultation and again at home.
HYPHAE’s virtual patient “Sophie, 42, CHEK2” lets professionals practise exactly this conversation, with feedback on every answer.
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