On August 20, 2019, the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended that more women be offered genetic testing for hereditary breast or ovarian cancer. The testing seeks to determine whether a woman has mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes; these mutations increase the risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. The mutated genes appear to cause only 5-10% of breast cancers and 15% of ovarian cancers. However, if a woman knows she carries a mutation, she can evaluate her options for lowering the risk of developing these cancers. Before this recommendation, screening was recommended only for women whose relatives have had BRCA-related cancers. The Task Force published a new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, expanding the advice to women who are now cancer-free after being treated for breast or other BRCA-related cancers, and to women with ancestry prone to BRCA mutations, such as Ashkenazi Jewish women.