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Concerns about Breast Cancer Family History Questions on genetics, family history & breast cancer. |
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| 5/4/2012 | Hi. I am BRCA1+ with no family history. I was stage 1, 1.7 cm IDC, 0/5 nodes, grade 3. I did chemo, mastectomy and hysterectomy. Diagnosed at 43 years old. Wondering if there is a statistically higher risk of mets for BRCA1+ women (and men). Also, onco said recurrence rate would be 5-10%. Does this sound reasonable based on your experience? | ||
| Replied | JHU's Breast Center Reply | ||
| 5/4/2012 | Though no family history, i always tell young women, "it has to start with some family member so it looks like it has started with you." oh my. sounds like you were smart to pursue genetics evaluation too and that you have been aggressive in striving to reduce risk. You mentioned mastectomy but didn't say "bilateral mastectomies" however risk for the opposite breast is also quite high. so something to consider discussing more with your oncology team. I'm not aware of an actual correlation of mets due to BRCA1 disease however many women with BRCA 1 mutations are triple negative limiting what can be offered for systemic treatment and as a result has a more challenging cancer to treat, making it, by its prognostic factors, potentially at higher risk for distant recurrence. your was identified early. good news. stage 1. statistically recurrence is 5-10% overall for stage 1. so embrace your survivorship status and enjoy each day. you've done what it takes to do well. L | ||
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