Genetic Testing for Breast Cancer: How It Helps

Genetic Testing for Breast Cancer: How It Helps

Thanks to Angelina Jolie, there has been much talk in recent years about the possibility of genetic testing to check an individual’s risk of developing breast cancer. Ever since the actor underwent preventable double mastectomy after discovering that she carried gene mutations, more people are interested in understanding the concept and whether risk reduction is actually possible.

Do I have a genetically higher risk of suffering from breast cancer? Are most breast cancers attributable to gene mutation? Will all people with mutation in BRCA genes go on to develop breast cancer? When it comes to genetic testing for cancers, a lot of questions are abound in the minds of common people. While the “Angelina Jolie Effect” raised much awareness about the hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome (HBOC), there are a lot of prevalent myths and misconceptions that need to be cleared.

BREAST CANCER: THE PROBLEM

Breast cancer is today the leading cause of cancer related deaths in women in India, surpassing cervical cancer. According to estimates of World Health Organization (WHO), roughly 144,937 women in India were detected with breast cancer in 2012 and 70,218 died of it, making it one death for every two new diagnoses. With the incidence of the disease rising by more than 20% since 2008, India is expected to have a whopping 200,000 new cases of breast cancer per year by 2030.