Genetic Screening and Breast Cancer

Could you be at a greater risk of developing Breast Cancer? Well some women are, and some women are getting genetic counseling and screening. The report tells them if they have the mutated gene BRAC and give them a likely percentage of developing Breast Cancer. When the Family history has gone back for years with Breast Cancer being prevalent in the Family, the risk is even higher! What should a woman do in this instance?In some cases although Breast Cancer was diagnosed it was not concluded as the BRAC form...simply because BRAC screening wasn't being done in those days of old! However it can be done now and for women that know there is more than a slight chance of getting Breast Cancer and perhaps from that will stem other cancers in the female organs, what are they to do?Why, you ask, because if it is the BRAC form it is almost 100% sure that these women will get one form of breast cancer....and when they have seen it take its course in their family, when a woman has to live out her life knowing this, most women want to know their chances for survival, and at a early age more than later in life..BRAC is in the class of genes known as tumor suppressors and women with this gene usually have strong family history of breast and ovarian cancers which have a tendency to come on before menopause. If a woman finds herself in this predicament, they really want an answer to their fears of developing any type of breast cancer or cancer in any of the female organs, the uterus, cervix, ovaries and even in the tubes.From reading medical journals according to the National Cancer Institute in the US, predict 12% of women will develop breast cancer at some time during their lives. However they also have predicted that 60% with a BRAC mutation will develop cancer in their female organs, most usually breast cancer, on occasion ovarian cancer. So what is a woman to do? Most women feel that their breasts define femininity! Most women who know what this has done to women in their family, live their lives as if they were cancer survivors, so in my mind the only way to be sure is to have the screenings. In a recent case of a family with 4 girls, now women, 2 had the BRAC genes....Two did not show any mutation at all! Not every cancer will be the result of the BRAC mutation and not every woman with BRAC will have cancer or will all female family members have the gene! Also if a woman chooses a double mastectomy due to her having the BRAC gene, there is no guarantee that the surgery will eliminate her risk of breast cancer! Decisions...decisions and these women once their fate is known, must make their own decisions knowing full well all that has been spoken about in former paragraphs.Other decisions more daunting are those about possible hysterectomy because of the risk of ovarian and cervical cancer.
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