Hi,
Below is a link to a cancer research press release saying that all under 50s with TNBC should be offered BRCA1 test.
info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/archive/pressrelease/2012-02-14-more-breast-cancer-tested-BRCA1-gene
I was told that I was borderline for being offered testing, and came back positive for a BRCA1 mutation. The only related cancer in the family was my dad’s half sister who had ovarian. The gene seems to have come from my paternal grandfather.
Hi Jen I was just about to post about this too…
nature.com/bjc/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/bjc201231a.html
I actually have brca2 which doesn’t carry such a high risk of TN as brca1, but think its higher than the general population so I wonder if they are going to do similar research for brca 2… As I’m sure there will be other TNBC brca 2 carriers without a family history like myself.
I was only tested because mum had BC but doesn’t carry the gene as it comes down my dads side and the connections are even more tenuous than yours with my dads uncle dying from pancreatic cancer at 43 and his (my dad) second cousin dying from ovarian ca at 45… Her and I are directly related through 5 unaffected males.
Thanks ladies i have just printed this off am at doctors on 6th feb so going to take this report with me .I am 43 (42 when diagnosed ) and i asked for the test but got refused xx
This is really interesting as I am triple negative however as far as I am aware there is no family history of cancer
What information would this give me? and could this gene be passed to boys as well as girls??
Will definately be speaking to my BCN about this one…it has raised lots of questions for me
Julie x x
Hi Jules
If you were found to carry a gene it would mean you were at a higher risk of getting another breast cancer or ovarian cancer.
Some people would rather not know but some feel it’s empowering to know if they carry a mutation.
What the research is saying is that around 20% of women under 50 with TNBC have a brca 1 mutation regardless of whether they have a family history or not.
Currently women under 40 with TNBC can get tested but this new research thinks we should go further and offer testing to women in their 40s too. However the changes the research supports is not actually a change in protocol although some units may change their protocol based on this others may not.
Everybody carries two copies of each gene… One from mum and one from dad… So if one of them has a gene mutation you will have a 50:50 chance of getting the normal gene or the mutated one… If you do inherit it then your own children have a 50:50 chance of inheriting it from you.
It’s more noticeable in girls because the main cancers associated with the gene mutations are breast and ovarian cancer so men don’t tend to be affected but can pass I it on… I inherited my gene mutation from my dad.
Having a gene mutation doesn’t mean a carrier will definitely get cancer but it does increase the risk from about 12% in the general population at upto 80% with a mutation.
Lulu x