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Intro: Imagine standing in a room with eight of your female friends or family members. Statistics show that one of them will get breast cancer in her lifetime. If you do the math that means most women have a 20 percent chance of ever getting breast cancer. But if you have one of two breast cancer genes, your risk goes up significantly. How do you find out if you have one of these genes? More from Mayo Clinic.
| Video | Audio |
| Total running time 1:37 | "WONDERFUL!" |
| VO: Stephanie Baskin and family working in western jewelry store | BEING IN THE JEWELRY BUSINESS IS A FAMILY AFFAIR FOR STEPHANIE BASKIN, HER HUSBAND MARV AND SON GREG. |
| "SUPER!" | |
| BUT UNFORTUNALTELY SO IS BREAST CANCER. STEPHANIE'S SURVIVED THE DISEASE TWICE. | |
| Stephanie Baskin Breast Cancer Survivor |
"I DID KNOW THAT IN MY DAD'S FAMILY ALMOST EVERY SINGLE WOMAN HAS BREAST CANCER." |
| THAT ALONE IS ENOUGH TO MAKE DOCTORS SUSPECT SHE HAS ONE OF TWO KNOWN BREAST CANCER GENES. BUT STEPHANIE IS ALSO A DESCENDANT OF THE ASKANAZI JEWISH PEOPLE WHO SETTLED IN EASTERN EUROPE. | |
| Katherine Hunt Mayo Clinic Genetic Counselor |
"ONE OUT OF 40 MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE ASKANAZI JEWS CARRY A BRCA 1 OR 2 MUTATION." |
BRCA1 or BRCA2
|
GENETIC COUNSELOR KATHERINE HUNT SAYS THE BRCA 1 OR 2 GENES RAISE YOUR RISK OF GETTING BREAST CANCER TO 87-PERCENT AND YOUR RISK OF GETTING OVARIAN CANCER TO 40-PERCENT. STEPHANIE HAD THE BLOOD TEST TO SEE IF SHE CARRIES THE GENE. SHE DOES. SO DOES HER SISTER. |
| Stephanie Baskin | "THIS SHOWS ALL THE GENERATIONS WHO MIGHT BE AFFECTED BY THE GENE." |
Standup Vivien Williams Reporting |
AND ALL THESE GENERATIONS NOW HAVE THE OPTION OF FINDING OUT IF IN FACT THEY HAVE THE GENE. AND IF SO, THEY CAN CHOOSE BETWEEN SEVERAL PREVENTION OPTIONS: 1: CLOSE MONITORING WITH SELF-BREAST EXAMS AND MAMMOGRAMS. 2: SURGERY TO REMOVE THEIR BREAST TISSUE. OR 3: SURGERY TO REMOVE THEIR OVARIES. |
| Stephanie Baskin | "I'M THE FIRST GENERATION OF ALL MY ANCESTORS TO FIND OUT WHAT THIS PROBLEM WAS IN THE FAMILY. THEY USED TO JUST CALL IT THE FAMILY CURSE AND BE DONE WITH IT." |
| A CURSE THAT'S BROKEN THANKS TO GENETIC TESTING, AND ADVANCES IN BREAST CANCER PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. BUT MOST OF ALL, THANKS TO STEPHANIE. | |
| FOR MEDICAL EDGE, I'M VIVIEN WILLIAMS. |
Tag:Mayo Clinic genetic counselor Katherine Hunt recommends that any woman who has a strong family history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer may want to consider genetic testing. Knowing whether or not you have a gene that increases your risk of breast cancer could save your life. But it's a tough decision to make, so be sure to talk to a genetic counselor about your options. For more information, log onto our Web site at ...
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