On this regard, the fulfilment of one or more of the following criteria seems to increase the probability to detect a predisposing BRCA1-2 mutation among Sardinian breast cancer patients: a) high-risk classification of the patient's family; b) presence of at least one family member with ovarian cancer; c) occurrence of synchronous or asynchronous bilateral breast carcinoma. This evidence concerns the gene BRCA1 and breast carcinoma.