Mo2men wrote:Two genes BRCA1 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 the assumption?

A. Some 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 90% chance of getting breast cancer while women who don't have these genes have only a 20% chance of getting breast cancer.
E. The presence of BRCA1 and BRCA 2 can explain upto to 50% of hereditary cases

Mo2men wrote:Two genes BRCA1 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 the assumption?

A. Some 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 90% chance of getting breast cancer while women who don't have these genes have only a 20% chance of getting breast cancer.
E. The presence of BRCA1 and BRCA 2 can explain upto to 50% of hereditary cases

Phoenix7 wrote:IMHO, the difference between the 2 most likely correct options (A and D) is subtle. D gives the probabilities of getting cancer for the tested people - those who tested +ve (for the genes), those who tested -ve. Most likely, the -ve ones will reduce their frequency of tests whereas the +ve will increase it. Because the respective % of people is not given, we can't say if the net will be a decrease or an increase. Option A on the other hand implies that the net will be a decrease although its wording, "Some women who are tested for the two genes...less frequent basis than they used to" doesn't tell us about the women who would take their tests more frequently as a result of the test being +ve. So A is a better option than D, however, only by a small margin.