New federal recommendations say that Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry is enough to consider genetic testing for cancer-related BRCA mutations, even without a known family history of cancer. (via commonhealth)
Lauren Corduck is riding up in the elevator at Massachusetts General Hospital, territory she knows well now that she's on her sixth course of cancer treatment there. It has included two courses of chemotherapy, radiation to attack a brain tumor that cost her a piece of her vision and more.
"It's really primary care physicians and gynecologists that need to be educated on this matter so that they start identifying their patients who are at this heightened risk," Corduck says."Asking the simple question: 'Do you have Eastern European Jewish ancestry?' will save so many lives.", so named because Ashkenazi Jews have a one-in-40 chance of carrying the high-risk BRCA mutations. That's roughly 10 times higher than the general population.
About four years ago, a cancer-survivor friend persuaded Corduck to get tested for BRCA mutations. The news was bad. She faced an up to 60% risk of ovarian cancer, which has no screening test for early detection, and up to 85% risk of breast cancer, she says. BRCA-positive women get enhanced screening like breast MRIs; some opt for surgery.
It asks people at higher risk to seriously consider testing. It can be scary, Corduck says, but"I can share from personal experience that it's infinitely more life-altering to hear the words from your doctor, 'You have cancer.'", which evaluates the evidence for medical practices. "The accrual for it has been slower than we'd all imagined," she says."So that means that there's more to this."
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