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Female at Risk for Breast Cancer

There are several reasons why you are at risk for breast cancer. First, there is a family history of breast cancer, with your mother having a partial mastectomy for breast cancer and her sister having had a mastectomy followed by chemotherapy for breast cancer. That suggests a familial link for breast cancer. A family history of breast cancer can indicate that you are carrying mutations of the BRCA1 and/or BACR2 gene, which are found in people with breast cancer (Study 27). Women who carry these mutations are up to 80 percent more likely to develop breast cancer compared with women who don't carry mutations of this gene. A recent study in England looked at women your age - under 30 years of age - and found that one-third of them had a strong family history of breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer, and 44 percent of these women with family histories of breast cancer had mutations of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene compared with only six percent of women with no family history of breast cancer. This means you fall into this high risk group for breast cancer.

We can now do screening for BRCA gene mutations, and for a patient such as yourself, who has two first-degree relatives with breast cancer we usually refer them for genetic counseling as a first step (Johnson 13). If you are agreeable once the genetics of the disease has been explained to you, genetic testing can be carried out to determine if you do carry the gene mutation for breast cancer. If you do, there are several options open to you. First and foremost, you should be followed by a gynecologic oncologist or a physician with expertise in dealing with familial cancer syndromes. His advice will depend on which mutation you carry. You should begin having regular mammograms and pelvic exams, ultrasounds and CA-125 serum screening. Your doctor will also discuss with you the benefits of a prophylactic oophorectomy, which can dramatically reduce a woman's breast cancer risk by ...

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Female at Risk for Breast Cancer. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 07:35, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1703072.html