Breast Cancer Screening

August 20, 2008 Health    Print    Email this Article   No Comments

Genetic testing for breast cancer is becoming increasingly popular, and — some mothers want their young daughters screened.
We’re talking about screening for mutations to two genes called BRCA-one and BRCA-two. The national cancer institute says five to ten percent of all women have them, and carrying them can dramatically increase your risk of breast and other cancers. Screening typically happens as adults. But — some parents want their daughters checked out early.
However, doctor Roshini Rajapaksa from the NYU School of medicine thinks that’s a bad idea.
Rajapaksa says: “we’re talking about breast cancer which affects one in eight women in their lifetime. This is a cancer every woman needs to be aware of this and screened appropriately. But when we’re talking about the BRCA gene or “bracka” gene, it affects about 5% of all breast cancers. We think the appropriate time to be tested or screened for this mutation is about 25 years of age.”
The national cancer institute says the likelihood that breast cancer is associated with the mutations is highest in families with a history of multiple cases of breast cancer.
However, not *every woman in these families will carry them… And not every cancer in these families is lin