BRACA testing

Hi Nathalie,

just wanted to update you on my results from the Genetics test - all negative (BRAC 1&2, PTEN and P53), which wasnt a surprise really.  As I said, there is no immediate BC history but plenty of different cancers of both sides.  At least I know that the risk of my children inheriting the gene is still at 50% and not higher if I had the gene present. Hope all is going well for you.

Cheers Wendy

PS My dad was an only child as well and passed away 15 years ago so it hard to get accurate family history and information as all his family are now deceased.  They thought if i had the gene, it would have been passed down from him.  We have a family history of Gioblastoma (Brain Cancer) which is what my father and 4 other family members passed away from, so i am hoping one day they will be find the gene for that.

My mum has passed away from breast cancer but her sister has now been diagnosed breast cancer with lumps on her ovaries. (Still waiting for tests to see if they are cancerous) Does this mean I would have to ask my aunty to be tested?

My mum has passed away from breast cancer but her sister has now been diagnosed breast cancer with lumps on her ovaries. (Still waiting for tests to see if they are cancerous) Does this mean I would have to ask my aunty to be tested?

Hi Nathalie,

I am just about to be tested for the BRAC gene as well, I dont have an immediate family history of Breast Cancer apart from my dad's cousins who died from it at the age of 48 (over 30 years), but we have a strong cancer link on both sides of my family but more on my fathers side (he passed away from Brain Cancer, my Grandma from Colon Cancer).  I was referred as I was 44 when diagnosed (back in NOV 13) and have Triple Negative BC and my ONC was adament that I get tested. They decided to eventually test me as my husband has the BRAC2 gene (inherited from his mother who had BC  6 years ago) and we have 3 young children (2 boys and 1 girl) and at the moment they have a 50% chance of having the gene but if i test positive, then their risk increases to over 80% of having the gene.  I really wanted to know for their sakes so we can educate them when they are old enough to understand.  I have my blood test done on Thursday for the test and I am hoping the results will be back before I finish my chemo (in May). Best of Luck with everything.  Wendy

Hi Julia,

When I had my 'Genetic Testing' done i had it done through the 'Royal Hospital' in Brisbane. It was through the Public sector and my Oncologist recommended it and wrote to the hospital strongly advising I needed this to be done. I waited about 3 months or so for them to send me the questionairre and after I filled this out, waited about another 4 months or so to do the test. If I had paid myself i am sure it would have been a lot faster process. This test is quite costly I believe, so it was a welcome surprise to be able to have it done publically. I would like to make a point about this process. as far as having relatives living or passed to determine this type of testing should fall on any information available about any cancer in the family. If you have a relative that passed away but it was not determined whether they have any cancer at the time, this does not help not really knowing one way or the other. For instance, what if your Great Grand Mother had this disease but did not know due to ignorence to the condition? Or that they never tell their family about the disease before passing away? So this lack of useful  information where a relative might have had Breast or any other cancer determines the outcome of the process. Luckily for me my Mother's half sister (they shared the same Mum) gave me all the information I needed about her 'Ovarian Cancer' which is a closer link than actual BC for a common thread. My testing showed that I had no mutant genes so as far as it goes my cancer was environmental and not genetic. this is still not conclusive of course because they can't test all of the BRAC genes at this point in time unfortunately. So now I have to hope that I don't pass this on to my children in the future, and hopefully the testing of these genes becomes more acurate too!!!

Take care always and good luck with your journey XXX Mia.

 

 

Thank you so much Mia,

I think any information is good information, it helps us to make informative decisions.

You are correct in saying that there are so many different genes that  we are not sure 100% if they can be passed down from generation, but the best gift they can give us is the gift of choice - being able to make your own decisions that are right for your own case.

Best of luck on your journey Mia.

thanks Nathalie

Hi Nathalie,

I had genetic testing done in 2012 after having had BC in 2011.

I had a first cousin on my Father's side of the family who had BC. She passed away due to the disease in her late 50's. On my Mum's side of the family I have an Aunt who is Mum's half sister. My Aunt had Ovarian Cancer in her 40's. The Genetics team thought that because my Aunt and Mother shared the same Mother then this was a close enough link for me to have the blood test. I had the testing and interview done and they came to the conclusion that from the BRACA genes tested, none were mutant. So supposedly my cancer was more than likely environmental and not genetic. However there are still a lot of genes that they know nothing about and cannot be tested at this point in time. So they assume that I may not pass this on to my own children. I sincerely hope this does not happen because as you well know, this disease is very brutal and cruel at times!!! Best of luck with your journey Nathalie, and I hope I have told you something of some benefit? Take care always XXX Mia.

I have a lot of faith in the genetics clinic I had so many questions that they answered for me and made me feel informed about my situation . I definately recommend this and be sure you dig up as much as possible on your family history. Good luck! Nat

Well both my great aunts passed away from breast cancer and for the last 2mnths I have been getting pain in my breast especially on my left side. I have to get a breast ultrasound done Friday and even if the ultrasound comes back fine I still have to see the genetics to get tested to see if I carry the cancer gene.

Hi Nathalie

This is Kathy from BCNA's Policy Team. I thought I would try to explain why I think genetic testing has not been recommended for you.

Genetic testing is provided free of charge by Family Cancer Clinics for women who have a strong family history of breast cancer - that is two or more relatives on the same side of the family.

Only about 5-10 per cent of breast cancers are from an inherited gene mutation. If your mother is the only person in your family to have had breast cancer, it is unlikely your family carries a gene mutation.

The other issue is that genetic testing is done through a blood test, and the first test is done on a member of the family who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. If there is no-one in your family who is alive and has had breast cancer, unfortunately there will be no one to test. The process is that the person diagnosed is tested for a gene mutation, and if it is positive they can test other family members to see if they carry the same mutation.

There is more information on the Beast cancer in the family page of our website, or email me if you have further queries.

I hope this helps.

Kathy