Eight out of every 10 people that have genes that raise their risks for breast, pancreatic, ovarian and prostate cancers do not know it, a new study reveals. Mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes raise a woman's risk of developing breast cancer before the age of 80 by 72 percent and 69 percent. On the same genes, mutations also increase pancreatic cancer for people of any gender, of ovarian cancer for women and prostate cancer for men.
Despite the fact that genetic testing offer a likely opportunity to predict a BRCA-related cancer, most people rely on their relatives to tell them if they have a family history of risk. The authors of a new study from Yale University are urging people to get tested for the gene variations after discovering that only 18 percent of people they tested knew their DNA was dangerous. It was discovered in the mid-1990s that mutations on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 raised breast cancer risks for women.
Since then, we have learned that various mutations on those same genes can similarly affect the risks of ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancers, as well as breast cancer for men. In part because it is so common, the US government and institutions the world over have thrown their weight into breast cancer research.
One in every eight women in the US will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives. Collectively, nearly 406,000 Americans are diagnosed pancreatic, prostate or ovarian cancer.
