Introducing Color To More Than 100 Countries

Today, we are thrilled to announce that Color is now available to individuals and healthcare providers in more than 100 countries. The Color Test is a physician-ordered genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer risk. Since Color launched in 2015, we have received emails and calls from people around the world requesting access to affordable genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer risk. We are happy to be in a position to start satisfying these requests!

While access to testing for mutations that increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer has been challenging for patients in the US, access in many countries around the world has been even more limited.

A recent study in the U.K. found that “despite the increasing clinical importance of germline BRCA mutation status in managing women with ovarian cancer, few patients are currently being tested. The traditional means of selecting patients for BRCA mutation testing using restrictive criteria will miss many women with a mutation.”[1] Comparable studies in South Africa, Norway, Israel, Canada and other countries have also identified gaps in access, awareness and prevention.[2, 3, 4]

When an individual knows that they have a mutation that increases their risk of developing cancer, they have the opportunity to create a personalized screening plan with their healthcare provider, which increases the chance of early detection and survival. We believe that genetic testing should be affordable and accessible to people everywhere — regardless of economic status, geography or ethnicity. The value of detecting cancer early does not stop at national boundaries.

To enable people to get the testing that they need, we are expanding access to high-quality, physician-ordered genetic testing through Color to more than 100 countries (two times the number of member countries the United Nations had when it started). Color results, support and genetic counseling are currently available only in English. Over time, we will extend our language support directly and through collaborations with local partners. To this end, we are announcing three new partnerships with GenoMill Health in Finland, Fugene Genetics in Israel and Genoks Technology in Turkey to offer Color’s services with localized support in these countries. While we’re in over 100 countries, we are not in all countries yet due to country-specific regulatory requirements.

Color’s mission is to democratize access to genetic testing. We are delighted to begin extending this mission globally. Knowledge is power, and we hope to empower women, men and their healthcare providers across the world with affordable and actionable genetic information.

References

1. George A. UK BRCA mutation testing in patients with ovarian cancer. British Journal of Cancer. December 2015;113:S17-S21.
2. Kromberg JG, Sizer EB, Christianson AL. Genetic services and testing in South Africa. Journal of Community Genetics. July 2013;4(3):413–423.
3. Moller P, Hagen AI, Apold J, et al. Genetic epidemiology of BRCA mutations — family history detects less than 50% of the mutation carriers. European Journal of Cancer. July 2007;43(11):1713–1717.
4. Metcalfe KA, Eisen A, Narod SA. Is it time to offer BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing to all Jewish women?. Current Oncology. August 2015;22(4):e233-e236.