Home » Health » Currently Reading:

Breast Cancer Screening

August 20, 2008 Health   Print Print   Email this Article 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

What do you think? We want to know:








FOX XRIO 2 News encourages you to participate in this discussion; however, please be sure to review our Terms of Use and Privacy Statement.

Want to see your avatar next to your name? Get it free here!

Contests & Giveaways

Watch for it on FOX

Polls

Would you ever consider walking away from your mortgage?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Stuff for your homepage




Search FOX XRIO 2

Custom Search

Weather

Sponsor

Entertainment News

  • Madonna offers relationship tips on ‘Marriage Ref’

    (AP)  Madonna doesn’t think a wife should withhold sex from a sloppy husband.
    But she believes a wife should dispose of her late husband’s prosthetic leg to spare the feelings of the wife’s current mate.
    This was some of Madonna’s relationship advice on NBC’s “The Marriage Ref,” where she joined actor-comedians Larry [...]

  • ‘Big Mike’ draws tears, cheers on ‘American Idol’

    (AP) Michael “Big Mike” Lynche made Kara DioGuardi cry and turned the rest of the “American Idol” judges giddy with a moving performance of “This Woman’s Work.”
    Lynche, a mountain of a guy who lives up to his nickname, performed last among the eight male semifinalists Wednesday and emerged as the star [...]

  • Pink Floyd wins battle with EMI over online sales

    By JILL LAWLESS | LONDON (AP) — In a victory for the concept album, Britain’s High Court on Thursday ordered record company EMI Group Ltd. to stop selling downloads of Pink Floyd tracks individually rather than as part of the band’s original records.
    The prog-rock group sued the music label, saying its contract prohibited selling the [...]

Recent Comments

Join us on Facebook

Listen to our Sister Stations