Genetic testing is not always routinely available to breast and/or ovarian cancer patients, or those at high-risk of developing these malignancies; the question is, why? And how can these challenges be tackled? Speaking at the 2017 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Conference, held in Liverpool, UK, Nazneen Rahman, CBE, FMedSci, of the Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK, explains the key challenges to availability. Prof. Rahman then discusses how these hurdles are being tackled and the benefits of these strategies.