*km3*

bonjourbelle05

You posted on my last post about the breast cancer gene, but I wanted to make sure you saw my response.  So, basically there are a couple of gene mutations that can be passed from parent to child that can put women at a higher risk for breast and ovarian cancer and men at a higher risk for male breast cancer and prostate cancer (although the percentages for men are lower).  My maternal grandmother died of breast cancer, my Mom is one of 5 children (4 girls, 1 boy) and her and 2 of her sisters were diagnosed with breast cancer (1 of them died from it 8 years ago).  My Mom was diagnosed about 6 weeks ago and her sister who has it (and is still living) was diagnosed just over a year ago.  The sister was tested for the gene mutation because of the strong family history and it came back positive.  When my Mom was diagnosed she was tested for the mutation my Aunt has and also came back positive, which means there is a 50/50 chance I inherited the gene (because half of the genes come from our mom, half from our dad).  My understanding is insurance will only pay for the test if your mother/father is diagnosed with breast cancer or if they are tested and test positive for the gene.  If no one has been tested before they have to test for every gene mutation and out of pocket the test is about $4000.  In my case, they know the mutation they are looking for, so they will only test for one mutation.  Some places do it as a blood test, some as a saliva (swish scope, spit into a tube).  If the results come back positive for the gene mutation then the lifetime risk for developing breast cancer is like 80-90%, the chance for ovarian cancer becomes really high too (I think it's like 60%).  I should add the gene is also linked to ovarian cancer.  If you test positive the current recommendation is a preventative removal of both breasts and ovaries when you are through your childbearing years.  There are also other less drastic options and either way you get screened a lot more often than the general public (in my case it will be yearly MRIs). 

Keep in mind not all breast/ovarian cancers are caused by this gene mutation, so if one person in your family has had them it doesn't mean the gene is in the family....it's when there is a strong consistent pattern, like in my family that the gene becomes a player.  I have to run cause DS just woke up, but if you have questions just reply to this post.....I'm by no means an expert, but I've learned a lot in the past 6 weeks!

km3

Oh my gosh, thanks for taking the time to write all that! I'm using my phone, so in keeping it short but that was definitely interesting to read. I'll get back to this when I'm on my laptop instead.