The Breast Cancer Genes Re-printed with the kind permission of the Auckland Womens Health Group
TE PUAWAI
they were death sentences. Her 87 % risk of breast cancer became 90 % which according to Professor Geoff Lindeman, head of the RMH Familial Cancer Centre, was“ the upper end of risk when the gene was first discovered.”( 2)
Only about 5 % of all breast cancers are hereditary, and not all of them will involve the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene. The risk of cancer for women with the breast cancer gene is somewhere between 40 – 65 % with the risks for women with the BRCA1 gene being higher than for those with the BRCA2 gene. In the midst of the panic that was generated by Angelina Jolie’ s story it is important to keep in mind that having either of these genes does not mean that a woman will develop either breast cancer or ovarian cancer.( 2)
On the 14 th of May Angelina Jolie’ s revelation that she carried the BRCA1 breast cancer gene and had had a preventative double mastectomy made world headlines and the fear of breast cancer went through the roof. Women’ s support groups, health centres and health agencies were deluged with calls from fearful women who wondered if they might have either of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that are associated with a high risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
In the aftermath of the publication of Angelina Jolie’ s story in the New York Times( 1), risk percentages for breast cancer were exaggerated and talked about as though
The BRCA genes play an important role in repairing the breaks or mutations in the DNA in our cells. But just as the body has a number of pathways that lead to cancer, it also has several pathways to repair DNA. The majority of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have completely intact BRCA genes so there is obviously more to this than genomics.
It is also worth noting that men who inherit either of these genes may be at increased risk of prostate cancer as well as breast cancer –“ breast cancer in men carrying BRCA2 has also been described in the medical literature.”( 2)
Genetic Testing The demand for genetic testing is probably also going through the roof as a result of
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