I received $150 from AstraZeneca, and any opinions expressed by me are honest and reflect my actual experience. This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks/AstraZeneca.
Did you know that September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month? Have you or has someone you know been diagnosed with ovarian cancer? Did you/they get tested for the BRCA gene?
I, unfortunately, am lucky enough to have both ovarian cancer and breast cancer in my family. My aunt Beulah was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when I was in middle school. I remember it vividly. She literally looked like she was 9 months pregnant, because the tumor she had was creating a green goo that was causing her to balloon up. It is funny the things that you remember. At that time, Beulah was given 9 months to live. However, she showed the doctors how very wrong they could be. She lived another 15 years! Unfortunately, she eventually succumbed to her ovarian cancer after I graduated from college. My aunt was a fighter.
I also am lucky enough to have an aunt with breast cancer on that same side of the family. She, unfortunately, wasn’t able to fight as long as her sister. My aunt Kay died when Will turned 1. (He’s 8 now.).
I can fully admit that this family history does scare me. However, it has been found that family history and age are poor predictors of BRCA status in ovarian cancer patients. Did you know that almost half (47%) of BRCA-positive ovarian cancer patients have no significant family history of ovarian or breast cancer? I have not been tested for the BRCA gene, because my insurance will not cover the test. For those who don’t know, BRCA1 and BRCA2 are human genes involved with cell growth, cell division, and cell repair. Although they are most commonly associated with BReast CAncer, approximately 15% of women with ovarian cancer also have BRCA gene mutations.
BRCA status in ovarian cancer affects treatment outcomes, and there are treatment options available specifically for women with BRCA mutation. Personalized, or precision, medicine tailors treatment to a patient’s genetic profile, and with cancer it means doctors can target the specific mutations that they know drive a disease. This helps patients determine the right treatment options for them. For this reason, it is important for women with ovarian cancer to receive genetic testing so that they can plan with their doctor an individual treatment plan that is optimized for their specific cancer!
How easy is to do a BRCA test? Super easy! A blood or saliva sample can be taken at your physician’s office or at a local lab. In the United States, results are usually available in 2 to 3 weeks!
Us woman need to be talking about ovarian cancer and the importance of BRCA testing.
We need to tell our stories and life one another up.