Knowing a woman’s risk to develop breast cancer at a given age can be an important tool for optimized targeting of preventive measures such as screening or chemo prevention. In a large population study, we examined if 32 genetic markers that were previously identified through systematic genetic searches can improve the prediction of breast cancer risk. Although our results are promising, the genetic, the epidemiological or the combined variables did not have sufficient predictive power to discriminate high risk from low risk women. The risk prediction may improve by incorporating further genetic markers identified in future studies. (By Dr. Anika Hüsing, http://jmg.bmj.com/content/49/9/601 )