I read in a US News & World Report article today that women whose sisters were diagnosed with breast cancer face an increased risk of breast cancer throughout their lives regardless of their sister’s age at diagnosis.

I have two sisters, so I was particularly interested in this one. I did a quick look at the Science Daily article on the same topic …

“Sisters of women diagnosed with breast cancer still have an increased risk of breast cancer 20 years after diagnosis of the sister, suggesting that women live with the burden of familial breast cancer for their lifetime,” the authors write.

Forget simply relying on BRCA1 or BRCA2 test results — the risk is there even in the absence of an abnormality in these two genes. If you have a sister, please pass this along to her.

The question is … do your sisters take their breast health and their increased risk seriously?

(Image: Newscom)

Post from: Blisstree

Breast Cancer Risk Lasts a Lifetime for Sisters

It’s fairly common knowledge in the breast cancer community that women with an abnormality in either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes are predisposed towards the disease and have a greater likelihood of developing breast cancer at a young age (before menopause).

For instance, while it is approximated that 13.2 percent of the general population will develop breast cancer, 36 – 85% of women with a mutation to either their BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes will get the disease.

(FYI, those genes were named quite simply: BReast CAncer 1 and BReast CAncer 2.)

It’s not as commonly known that men with BRCA1 or BRCA2 also face an increased risk of the disease.

And last night I read, from a Harvard Medical School Report, that:

“Men whose mothers, daughters, or sisters have tested positive for the breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 may want to find out if they carry the genes. Studies have shown that BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers are more likely to develop prostate cancer than men without them. Now a British study suggests that these men are also more likely to suffer from more aggressive forms of the disease.”

The researchers mentioned that screening for BRCA1/BRCA2 genes in men could lead to earlier detection of prostate disease. Love that phrase ‘early detection’ — don’t you?

I did not test positive for either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. Yet I had early onset breast cancer and have a mother who had ovarian cancer — there’s got to be another gene abnormality that researchers haven’t identified yet. So now I’m thinking about my boys … and realizing that they’ll just have to take their prostate health seriously at a young age in addition to their breast health.

Who here has had genetic testing … and have you realized the implications for your own sons or daughters at this point in time?

(Photo from mknowles’ photostream on flickr)

Post from: Blisstree

Breast Cancer Genes Linked to Prostate Health