BRCA gene may be a critical factor in determining the risk of future breast cancer. Some women who have genetic counseling to find they are BRCA positive have mastectomies prior to any future diagnosis.
Breast cancer affects one in eight women during their lives. Breast cancer kills more women in the United States than any cancer except lung cancer. No one knows why some women get breast cancer, but there a number of risk factors.
Risks that you cannot change include:
• Age - the chance of getting breast cancer rises as a woman gets older
• Personal factors - beginning periods before age 12 or going through menopause after age 55
Other risks include being overweight, using hormone replacement therapy, taking birth control pills, drinking alcohol, not having children or having your first child after age 35 or having dense breasts.
However, the risk for breast cancer seems to be the highest with women who have a gene which is BRCA positive. Some women who are positive have mastectomies to prevent breast cancer.
However, patient's with breast cancer who are positive for the BRCA gene have the same prognosis as other women who have breast cancer.
Survival rates at 10 years were:
- 67% for BRCA1 carriers
- 56% for BRCA2 carriers, and
- 67% for noncarriers
In conclusion, it may be scarier to know one has the BRCA gene; however, it is not a death sentence if one is diagnosed with breast cancer.
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