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African Americans should test for the BRCA mutations
Fiddler, thank you. I agree about the need for testing. Unfortunately, this test is expensive (or was back when I had it). I was able to get into a study at MSK so I paid nothing.
I was told then (19 or so years ago) that my not having the BRCA mutations didn’t mean I didn’t have other mutations that couldn’t at that time be tested for. Different from what you were told, of course.
Carol, you are right about testing being expensive. However, my sister tested after her daughter tested positive for BRCA1. My sister was also positive and the lab she used, Invitae, offered free testing to any family member who tested within 90 days of my sister. My brother, his 2 daughters and I all tested for free. And, btw, it was because I was BRCA1+ that my breast cancer was caught so early. Never showed up on mammogram but was seen on 1st MRI, which is standard screening with BRCA.
Everyone, of whatever ethnicity, has the BRCA gene! What the test is for is two mutations (BRCA-1 & 2) of that gene, plus the PALB-2 and Chek-2 mutations. These, primarily the BRCA mutations, are commonest in Ashkenazi (northern, central & eastern European) Jews--if you are Jewish and not Sephardic or Mizrahi, your heritage is at least partly Ashkenazi; rural French Canadian; and Cajun--all ethnic groups that until the 20th century did not intermarry with other ethnicities. It's not unreasonable to assume that because interracial marriage was less common before the mid-20th century, these gene mutations might also appear in African-Americans.
I'm almost 100% Ashkenazi, but I tested negative and none of my relatives or forebears had breast or the other cancers related to the mutations.
Question: First breast MRI after treatment
New photo! Cute! :-)
