Olivia Munn’s Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score 'Saved My Life' — What to Know About the Tool

Mar. 15, 2025

Olivia Munn.Photo:Olivia munn/Instagram

Olivia munn/Instagram

On Wednesday,Olivia Munnrevealed that she was diagnosed withbreast cancerand underwent a double mastectomy last year, just two months after testing negative for the BRCA gene.

“I’m lucky,” Munn said. “We caught it with enough time that I had options. I want the same for any woman who might have to face this one day.”

Olivia Munn.Olivia Munn/Instagram

Olivia Munn/Instagram

The assessment, which takes as little as five minutes to complete, uses a women’s personal information to determine the risk, including age, age at first period, age at the time of the birth of a first child, family history of breast cancer (mothers, sisters, daughters), number of past breast biopsies (whether positive or negative), number of breast biopsies showing a presence of atypical hyperplasia, and race/ethnicity.

The NIH notes that the BCRAT cannot accurately estimate breast cancer risk for women who have previously been diagnosed with breast cancer or women who are carrying a breast-cancer-producing mutation inBRCA1orBRCA2.

Olivia Munn getting a mammogram.Olivia Munn/Instagram

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When analyzing the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score, women are classified as high risk for developing breast cancer if they have a 5-year risk of 1.67% or higher and a lifetime risk of 20% or higher.

Dr. Aliabadiurges those women to get annual mammograms and breast MRIs starting at age 30.

Mammograms are vital for early detection of breast cancer, which affectsone in eight women in the United States.

In May 2023, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Forcelowered the recommended age for screeningfor breast cancer after an increase in younger diagnoses. The task force stated that science now shows all women should start getting screened every other year at age 40, which could result in 19% more lives being saved.

In addition to staying on top of routine screenings, health officials advise women of all ages to practice “breast self-awareness,” which means becoming familiar with how a person’s own breasts normally look and feel, so they will be more likely to recognize anything out of the ordinary when doing abreast self-examination.

source: people.com