“Nearly every BRCA mutation carrier's main concern is how to avoid the fate of relatives who have had, and possibly died from, breast or ovarian cancer.” FateConcernDiedCancerBreastsCarrierMutationOvarian Cancer Author:Kristi Funk
“In my practice, the majority of mutation carriers choose mastectomy; however, for those without cancer, they have much more control over the timing. For younger women, we might wait until they have found a life partner, or until after childbearing. Older women who find out they carry a mutation have unwittingly escaped a large percentage of their risk, and therefore, the calculated future risk is not necessarily a daunting number.” MightFoundWaitingNumbersPracticeRiskMajorityCancerPartnersTimingPercentagesCarrierMutationOlder WomenLife PartnerChildbearingMastectomy Author:Kristi Funk
“Risk reduction for BRCA2 carriers includes taking tamoxifen. Removing ovaries prior to age 40 drops breast cancer risk in half. Ovarian cancer surveillance is unfortunately inadequate at early detection, but birth control pills reduce ovarian cancer incidence up to 60%.” AgeHalfRiskBirthCancerBreastsPillsSurveillanceInadequateReductionBreast CancerBirth ControlCarrierDetectionIncidenceOvariesOvarian CancerBirth Control Pills Author:Kristi Funk
“The most surprising fact that people do not know about breast cancer is that about 80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer do not have a single relative with breast cancer. Much more than just family history and inherited genes factor into the breast cancer equation.” PeopleKnowsFactsCancerFactorsBreastsRelativeGenesSurprisingEquationsBreast CancerFamily History Author:Kristi Funk
“About 80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer do not have a single relative with breast cancer.” CancerBreastsRelativeBreast Cancer Author:Kristi Funk
