Myriad Genetics was co-founded in 1991 by Doctors Mark Skolnick and Walter Gilbert, and entrepreneur and Spencer Trask & Co. Chairman, Kevin Kimberlin. It was the first company solely dedicated to finding disease-causing genome sequences. Since 1991, more than 1.5 million patients have already benefited from Myriad’s genetic testing. Their discovery of the breast cancer gene was a major breakthrough in the genome revolution, and the impetus for the Human Genome Project.

1. Breast Cancer Facts
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2. Aside from lung
cancer, breast
cancer has the
highest death rate
among women.

3. Women have a
1 in 8 chance of
getting breast
cancer while men
have a
1 in 1,000 chance.

4. There have been
over 2.8 million women
diagnosed with breast cancer
in the United States.

5. In the past 25 years,
the mortality rate for breast cancer has
decreased by 37%, avoiding approximately
249,000 deaths.

6. 79% of new cases
of breast cancer
are in women over
the age of 50.

7. If a women has a close
relative (mother, sister,
or daughter) with breast
cancer, their risk of
getting breast cancer
doubles.

8. It is estimated that
in the year 2016,
there will be 246,660
new cases of breast
cancer diagnosed.

9. 61 is the average age women in the
United States are diagnosed
with breast cancer.

10. Approximately 11% of breast cancer diagnoses
come from women under the age of 45.

11. Approximately 85%
of breast cancer
cases happen when
there is no prior
family history of
breast cancer.

12. If you already have
been diagnosed
with breast cancer,
you are four times
more likely to
develop breast
cancer again.

13. The chance of a woman dying
from breast cancer
is 1 in 36.

14. As of now there are approximately
2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the
United States.

15. Myriad Genetics was co-founded in 1991 by Doctors Mark Skolnick and Walter Gilbert, and
entrepreneur and Spencer Trask & Co. Chairman, Kevin Kimberlin. It was the first company
solely dedicated to finding disease-causing genome sequences. Since 1991, more than 1.5
million patients have already benefited from Myriad’s genetic testing. Their discovery of the
breast cancer gene was a major breakthrough in the genome revolution, and the impetus for
the Human Genome Project.
In conjunction with collaborators such as Dr. Skolnick and Dr. Walter Gilbert, Myriad scientists
have gone on to discover several other important disease-causing genes, including:
 BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer;
 p16 cell cycle control gene that increases the risk of developing a variety of cancers,
notably melanoma;
 PTEN tumor suppressor gene that is involved in the development of many cancers;
 ELAC2 prostate cancer gene.
Early detection saves lives. Talk with your doctor about what genetic testing can do for you.
Spencer Trask and Myriad Genetics