Admin Admin

Talking about Angelina Jolie’s dislcosure about BRCA mutation and surgery

June 4, 2013

BreastExam01With Angelina Jolie’s disclosure about testing positive for the BRCA mutation that strongly predicts the likelihood of developing breast cancer, a lot of media stories have covered her genetic testing diagnosis and subsequent decision to have a mastectomy. A number of important ideas have been included in Angelina’s talk about her diagnosis and decision. She has emphasized that the genetic test is expensive–about $3,000. Perhaps there has been less emphasis on why and when health insurance is more or less likely to pay for the genetic testing, or some part of it at least. Payment is more likely in situations where a family member has tested positive for the mutation or has developed breast cancer at a young age.

The story has focused more on her decision perhaps than on the relative rarity of having the genetic mutation linked to breast and ovarian cancer. The decision to have the mastectomy relates to the 85% or more likelihood that she or anyone with the mutation would develop breast cancer. So this mutation of a gene that we all have is indeed very strongly indicative of a future breast cancer diagnosis. The decision to have breast tissue removed is Angelina’s way of reducing that risk to more like 5%.

Another fact that the stories have not emphasized is the reality that only about 5% of the women  diagnosed with breast cancer have a BRCA mutation. For the other 95%, environmental and behavioral factors contribute to the diagnosis. So it is critical that we focus attention on that reality.  

 

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Author: Roxanne

I have always loved to learn. After years of trying to pick a major as an undergraduate, I met a professor who guided me to graduate school. And from graduate school, I learned that I could always go to school and keep on learning. And so I have...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d bloggers like this: