25/10/2025
: Breast Cancer Awareness Month
and
One of the most common question which is asked by females carrying genetic mutations but they are asymptomatic is— Do they need to undergo removal of Breast and/or ovaries prophylactically like- few celebrities did?
Do they need to get married and have kids as early as possible and remove their ovaries after that?
Answer to that is— Not necessarily.
It will depend upon the culprit gene, in which is present.
For example:: If a female is and is carrying the inherited mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene which are the most common cause of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, she is advised to plan her life in a way that she can take necessary before the onset of cancer. Important to know here is that— she is not having 100% risk of getting breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Chances for manifesting breast cancer is between 80-90% and for ovarian cancer it’s 40-50%. Yes it’s high but not 100%. As per the standard , are an option but not a must.
However, if she gets cancer, choosing the best surgical option will depend upon multiple factors including her age, stage and pathology of cancer. If the cancer is manifested on one side and she is very young, the other side is kept under observation and only the affected breast is removed. Regular is recommended for , ***y and . In many females, they never get cancer in the second breast and in many, a new tumor gets manifested second time. It’s complex and varies from case to case since thousands of genetic mutations are there in BRCA1 and BRCA2. In one family lineage, usually one single mutation gets passed on from one generation to another.
Surgical recommendations for other genes are also different and in most of the cases, no prophylactic surgery is advised. These decisios are taken jointly by clinician, patient, family and Genetic Counselor. The key role of timely Genetic testing is there.
Many patients complain that they never knew about the genetic testing options and no one told them about it in their previous clinic visits.
So, the is::
Get your done if you have a of . If you are not sure about it, take a consultation from a Genetic who is experienced in dealing with hereditary cancer. Ask your provider and he/she will refer you to a Genetics expert. Ask as many questions as you want during this Counselling session to clear your doubts.
If you have any doubt or query, you can put in comments here or message me in person.
Stay Aware..
Stay Tuned for more posts like this 😊
