BUZZURRO

This week, I found out that I have a BRCA2 mutation. What is a BRCA2 mutation, you might ask ? I sure did.
BRCA2 is a gene, and a mutation of it has been highly linked to several forms of cancer, notably breast, ovarian and pancreatic, although it has also been linked to prostate cancer as well.

In the normal population, or people without the BRCA mutation, the risk of breast cancer in women is 14 percent before the age of 70. Roughly speaking, 1 in 7 women will develop breast cancer by the age of 70.Those are bad enough odds, but in people with a BRCA2 mutation, the risk for breast cancer in women is 87 percent by the age of 70.

In the normal population, the risk of ovarian cancer is more than 2 percent. In women with the BRCA2 mutation it is 44 percent. It is a type of cancer that is hard to detect, unlike breast cancer, and has a high mortality rate.

Needless to say, I was not happy to get this diagnosis. I met with a genetic counselor who told me about all my options, ranging from chemoprevention (taking a drug called tamoxifen), increased doctor visits, breast MRIs and exams to prophylactic removal of the breasts and ovaries.
I am glad though that I did this test, because now that I know that I have this tendency towards cancer, I will be more vigilant, and if/when cancer occurs I can catch it at an early stage and count the weeks to recovery instead of the months to death.

The reason I did the test in the first place was because cancer runs in my family. Most cancers are caused by environmental factors, but several have genetic tendencies. If any one reading this has a strong family history of any type of cancer, do talk to your doctor to see if this test is for you.

Remember, sadness for having a genetic probabilty to contract cancer is not the same as getting cancer. A little genetic knowledge of how your body is structured can only be a good thing.