HBOC is the most common and well-described hereditary breast cancer syndrome and 
is often at the center of professional recommendations, accreditation standards, 
and insurance company coverage policies. A person’s BRCA gene mutation status 
may alter their decisions about surgical treatment, eligibility for a clinical 
trial, and their approach to cancer risk reduction and screening. The potential 
for knowledge gained from undergoing BRCA gene testing is great, but there are 
limitations and pitfalls of which patients should be aware before providing 
informed consent, including the possibility of uncertain or uninformative 
results, potential for psychological distress, and effect on family members. As 
such, it is important for clinicians across the health care spectrum to be able 
to appropriately identify patients at risk of having HBOC, understand the effect 
that this diagnosis has on their patients with and without cancer, and be able 
to identify resources to support their patients throughout genetic testing 
process.