In the event you’ve heard folks speaking about “breast cancer genes,” they in all probability have been referring to BRCA — however they have been solely partly proper. Everybody has BRCA (BReast CAncer) genes. And so they defend you once they work accurately.
“All of us have two copies of the BRCA1 and 2 genes, and we would like them to be functioning correctly,” mentioned Chrissy Spears, M.S., a licensed genetic counselor on the Ohio State College Complete Most cancers Middle and a member of HealthyWomen’s Women’s Health Advisory Council. It is not the genes themselves, however sure mutations (modifications) in BRCA1, BRCA2 and different genes that may improve an individual’s danger of growing breast most cancers and different cancers.
Regular BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes produce proteins that assist repair broken DNA. They’re generally known as “tumor suppressor genes” as a result of they preserve most cancers from occurring once they’re working the best way they’re imagined to. When BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations preserve the BRCA protein from repairing the DNA, cells usually tend to divide and develop quickly, which might result in most cancers.
That is why folks with dangerous BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations are at greater risk of developing certain types of cancers, together with breast, ovarian and prostate cancers.
Read: How Do Genes Affect Your Health? >>
In accordance with the National Cancer Institute:
- As much as 72% of girls with a dangerous BRCA1 variant and as much as 69% of girls with a dangerous BRCA2 variant will develop breast most cancers by 70–80 years of age, in comparison with 13% of girls on the whole.
- As much as 44% of girls with a dangerous BRCA1 variant and as much as 17% of girls with a dangerous BRCA2 variant will develop ovarian most cancers by 70–80 years of age, in comparison with simply 1.2% of girls on the whole.
The excellent news? There are exams that may inform you in case you have a BRCA mutation. Understanding BRCA testing will help you resolve along with your healthcare supplier (HCP) if you happen to ought to get examined. Getting a well timed BRCA check at or instantly following a most cancers prognosis may very well be a life-changing resolution.
What’s BRCA testing?
BRCA genetic testing seems to be for mutations in your BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes that considerably improve an individual’s danger of:
Genetic testing also can search for mutations in genes apart from BRCA1 and BRCA2. And there are greater than 1,000 known BRCA mutations on the market. Testing might be performed as a blood or saliva check with no distinction in accuracy. Speak to your physician or a genetic counselor to have them order an FDA-approved check. As soon as a pattern has been collected, you’ll be able to count on to have ends in about two weeks.
Who ought to get BRCA testing?
BRCA testing is advisable for folks with sure danger elements. These embody:
- A private historical past of breast most cancers (particularly if you happen to have been recognized earlier than age 50)
- A private historical past of each breast and ovarian most cancers
- A private or household historical past of a number of most cancers diagnoses
- A private or household historical past of ovarian, pancreatic or high-risk prostate most cancers
- At the very least one member of the family who has been recognized with breast most cancers, particularly in the event that they have been recognized earlier than age 50
- Breast most cancers in a male family member
- A number of members of the family who’ve already been recognized with a BRCA mutation
- Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, since 1 in 40 Ashkenazi Jewish girls has a BRCA mutation
- Sure different ancestries
In case you have a number of of those danger elements, think about speaking to your HCP about BRCA testing. They could refer you to a genetic counselor, an individual who’s particularly skilled to assist folks resolve if genetic testing is true for them.
Some BRCA mutations are hereditary. This implies they are often handed from a father or mother to a baby. Persons are at the next danger of sure sorts of most cancers in the event that they inherited a BRCA mutation. In case you have a household historical past of sure cancers, resembling breast, ovarian and prostate cancers, genetic testing will help you perceive your danger of growing sure cancers, and enable you and your HCP make knowledgeable healthcare choices.
“We come from a ‘information is energy’ perspective,” Spears mentioned. “If we all know that there is a mutation, there are issues that we are able to do about it.”
Read: How Do Genes Affect Your Health? >>
Spears suggests that ladies additionally speak to the boys of their lives about BRCA testing as a result of they will have BRCA mutations as effectively.
Ought to you have got BRCA testing after a breast most cancers prognosis?
Whereas the choice to get BRCA testing after a breast most cancers prognosis needs to be made on a person foundation by a lady and her care staff, genetic testing can be helpful for girls with breast most cancers who:
- Had been recognized with breast most cancers at a youthful age
- Have triple-negative breast most cancers
- Have been recognized with a second breast most cancers (not a recurrence of the primary most cancers)
- Are of Ashkenazi Jewish descent
- Have a household historical past of breast most cancers (particularly at a youthful age or in males), ovarian most cancers, pancreatic most cancers or prostate most cancers
Just lately, the American Society of Scientific Oncology (ASCO) and the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) launched up to date recommendations for genetic mutation testing in sufferers with breast most cancers. Amongst different standards, the rules advocate BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation testing for all newly recognized sufferers with breast most cancers who’re 65 or youthful and sure sufferers who’re older than 65.
Does BRCA standing have an effect on remedy choices?
Since BRCA mutations can have an effect on the best way breast most cancers is handled, discovering these mutations as quickly as attainable could enable you make remedy choices. Genetic testing could give your HCP perception into which focused therapies your most cancers could reply to. (Targeted drug therapy is a most cancers remedy with medication made to “goal” most cancers cells with out affecting regular, wholesome cells.)
Genetic testing outcomes can also encourage you to take different preventive measures, resembling getting screened extra typically if you happen to discover you might be at larger danger for sure cancers.
Is BRCA testing lined by insurance coverage?
Many medical health insurance plans will cowl the price of genetic testing when it is advisable by a doctor, in line with the American Society of Clinical Oncology. However protection is finally as much as your insurance coverage firm, so it is a good suggestion to confirm whether or not BRCA testing is roofed earlier than you progress ahead.
Some organizations provide data and assets for many who cannot afford preventive care. For instance, FORCE, Going through Hereditary Most cancers Empowered, is an advocacy group that gives details about genetic testing and directs folks to further assets about insurance coverage protection for genetic testing.
Are at-home genetic testing kits efficient?
Though at-home genetic testing kits exist, speak along with your HCP about BRCA testing. At-home exams usually are not complete (which means they do not check for all BRCA mutations), and their outcomes could also be complicated with out an professional to stroll you thru them — and assist you determine what to do subsequent.
Go to beBRCAware.com to learn the way genetic testing can present vital details about most cancers danger and enable you make remedy choices after a prognosis.
This academic useful resource was created with assist from AstraZeneca and beBRCAware.com.
Sources
Susan G. Komen Family Health History Tool
UCSF Center for BRCA Research Studies
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