It seems that everywhere I turn today, someone is talking about the new breast cancer gene test ads. I’ve only seen the one aired on CNN this morning and didn’t find it to be too over-the-top. However, many physicians and healthcare officials are concerned that it may cause undo panic, that the information provided is inaccurate, and there isn’t enough information provided.
Personally, I like the idea of putting the information about the test out there. I’ve mentioned it to several friends who had no idea what I was talking about, having never heard of such. What’s more, I think doctors who are primarily concerned with mass panic and women beating a path to the laboratory are underestimating our intelligence. From what I understand, doctors will not even perform the test without first requiring the patient undergo genetic counseling.
Several years ago, I found a lump in my breast and had an excisional biopsy (lumpectomy). My paternal grandmother had breast cancer and I was told the biopsy was the best course to follow. The results were negative for cancer (benign), but the lumpectomy itself left me battling breast inflammation for nearly a year. When I changed doctors, I was told that I had seen her originally, she would have done a fine needle aspiration and avoided the whole ugly mess, but that’s another story. Shortly after my breast inflammation cleared up, I was invited to participate in a genetic testing study and received a rather large packet of information about the test.
As I read over the material, one thing really stuck in my mind… the required genetic counseling. Why would I need counseling? Learing my test was negative would mean never worrying about getting breast cancer, right? It wasn’t long before I started to understand, though. Should my test be positive, how would I feel? What would my options be? Let’s face it… I worry! My grandmother didn’t actually develop cancer until her 60s so how many years am I going to have to wait for this bullet to hit? I’d be concerned over every little ache and twinge! Of course I always had the option of just lobbing the twins off and get some implants, perhaps, but isn’t that a bit radical? Also, at 29 years of age, would I want something like this being a part of my medical record? How would it effect future insurance policies?
I devoted a lot of time and consideration to all of it and ultimately decided not to do it. Since it was a part of a study, the test would have been free, but even that didn’t sway me. I think the most convincing part for me was that if I did in fact test positive, one of the most recommended and least invasive courses to follow was to do monthly self-exams and annaul mammograms. Well, I’m already doing that! However, for a woman who has a strong family history of breast cancer, but does not have annual mammograms, this might be beneficial in getting a doctor to order them and insurance to cover it.
Another thing that has changed since I was given the choice is how the BRAC1 and BRAC2 has since been linked with ovarian and colon cancer. My father’s sister has colon cancer and that raises my odds even higher of developing cancer myself. After learning this, I did have to revisit the whole genetic testing idea, but at this point, it would only tell me something my doctors and I already know… cancer runs in my family!
Genetic testing is clearly a very personal choice for all women, but certainly one not every woman knows she has. I hope to see more ads, actually, for that purpose alone. I also hope that future ads will mention the relation between BRAC1/ BRAC2 and other cancers. In the meantime, allow me to suggest the following site for more information:
