Two genes, BRCAl and BRCA2, are linked to hereditary breast cancer. Therefore,
in order to decrease the annual number of mammogram tests administered across a
population and to more accurately assess a woman's individual risk of breast cancer,
all women should be tested for these genes.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
(A) Some of the women who are tested for the two genes will subsequently undergo
mammograms on a less frequent basis than they used to.
(B) The majority of breast cancer patients have no family history of the disease.
(C) Researchers may have identified a third breast cancer gene that is linked with
hereditary breast cancer.
(D) Women who have these genes have an 80 percent chance of getting breast cancer,
while women who do not have these genes have only a l0 percent chance
of getting breast cancer. (E) The presence of BRCAl and BRCA2 can explain up to 50 percent of hereditary
cases. |