Three Sisters Choose Preventative Care after Genetic Testing Results

     Three sisters, Patti Broccoli, Cathy Balsamo and Cindy Lepore decided to go for genetic testing after Cathy saw an advertisement in her doctor's office. After giving a detailed family history, the sisters were informed that they would be good candidates to be tested for the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 gene mutations. The results showed that all three of them had the BRCA 1 gene mutation, meaning that their chances of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer in their lifetime was as high as 90%. With this new found information, they decided to all get double mastectomies and had their ovaries removed as well. This drastic measure is one that the women felt that they needed to make in order to ensure their survival. Nowadays, more and more women are opting for the preventative care of double mastectomies and oophorecomies.

Patti Broccoli, Cathy Balsamo, and Cindy Lepore

     As someone who has a high prevalence of breast cancer within my family, I can understand the fear of getting the disease one day. Personally, I am planning on getting genetic testing done in the near future to see exactly how high my risk is. If it comes up that I have the BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 gene mutation, preventative care is certainly an option that I will be looking into. I simply hope that advancements in medicine will help so that such drastic measures won't need to be taken by women who have the mutations. 

Link to article: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/genetic_test_results_led_three_berkeley_heights_sisters_to_opt_for_surgery.html

Link to related article: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/BRCA