Genetic testing for BRCA

cahjah75

apple25 said:

BRCA answers
I spoke to the geneticist at my oncologist's office yesterday when they did the blood test. She'll get the results of the BRCA test and then she'll discuss the results with my oncologist and my surgeon. She checked with Aetna and they do cover most of the cost of test. I may have to pay a portion of the cost, but it won't be more than $200 if that much.
Both my plastic surgeon and cancer surgeon recommended a hysterectomy. My plastic surgeon said the removal of my ovaries wouldn't be done at the same time as the mastectomy. I was under the impression everything would be done at once to get it over with.
No one in my family has ever been diagnosed with bc, colon or ovarian cancer. I got to be the first one on both sides.

Thanks for your advise. I won't get the results back for another 6 weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I was tested
I was tested before my bilateral mastectomies. I'm the 5th in my family with breast cancer. I tested negative and my insurance paid 100%. (It did cost over $3000) I wanted to be able to tell my daughter that I was negative. In the end it didn't factor into my decision to have the bilateral mastectomies. I had ILC in right breast and LCIS in left breast.

Also, my gyn said he would be the one to remove ovaries, not the breast surgeon.
Char

Sally5

cahjah75 said:

I was tested
I was tested before my bilateral mastectomies. I'm the 5th in my family with breast cancer. I tested negative and my insurance paid 100%. (It did cost over $3000) I wanted to be able to tell my daughter that I was negative. In the end it didn't factor into my decision to have the bilateral mastectomies. I had ILC in right breast and LCIS in left breast.

Also, my gyn said he would be the one to remove ovaries, not the breast surgeon.
Char

Just wondering
I read that more than one person saying your dr also recommended a hysterectomy. Can I ask why? Is it just for preventative reasons? Does it matter if you are Estrogen positive? Thanks.

sunny_girl

Sally5 said:

Just wondering
I read that more than one person saying your dr also recommended a hysterectomy. Can I ask why? Is it just for preventative reasons? Does it matter if you are Estrogen positive? Thanks.

hysterectomy
My gynecologic oncologist recommended having my ovaries removed because I am still 10+ years away from menopause, and it reduces estrogen, which feeds estrogen positive breast cancer, and it also reduces most of the risk of ovarian cancer. If you are taking Tamoxifen, removing the uterus helps prevent uterine cancer caused by Tamoxifen (which tends to be a more deadly form of uterine cancer).
In the 1950's/ 1960's they routinely did a mastectomy and hysterectomy for breast cancer (no chemo or radiation back then).
If one has a BRCA defect, the risk of getting breast cancer or ovarian cancer can be very high (depending on exactly where the mutation is on those genes) - and the decision to prophylactically remove the organs seems more reasonable... especially since ovarian cancer is almost never detected early enough to stop it from spreading.

ScubaGirl

I had the tests...
And I feel glad that I did, however I have a strong history of breast cancer in my family unlike you. My maternal aunt passed from aggressive breast cancer almost ten years ago. She has three daughters, my first cousins, and one of them has breast cancer. My maternal grandmother had a sister who passed from breast cancer. Sounds like at lot, at least to me.

My genetic councilor agreed and after two hours of family history with my mom answering questions she ordered the test and said she bet I had the deficiencies. Turns out she was wrong - I'm negative for BRCA 1 and 2 deficiencies.

I opted to a further test called BART that would further. Analyze data that would be 4 percent more accurate leading to a total of 98 percent sure rate. It isn't a 100 percent but pretty close given my family history.

My insurance paid for the first round but no the BART so that was $700 outofpocket. Results are pending.

I'm 36 so it is worth it to be sure.

Good luck.

tommaseena

ScubaGirl said:

I had the tests...
And I feel glad that I did, however I have a strong history of breast cancer in my family unlike you. My maternal aunt passed from aggressive breast cancer almost ten years ago. She has three daughters, my first cousins, and one of them has breast cancer. My maternal grandmother had a sister who passed from breast cancer. Sounds like at lot, at least to me.

My genetic councilor agreed and after two hours of family history with my mom answering questions she ordered the test and said she bet I had the deficiencies. Turns out she was wrong - I'm negative for BRCA 1 and 2 deficiencies.

I opted to a further test called BART that would further. Analyze data that would be 4 percent more accurate leading to a total of 98 percent sure rate. It isn't a 100 percent but pretty close given my family history.

My insurance paid for the first round but no the BART so that was $700 outofpocket. Results are pending.

I'm 36 so it is worth it to be sure.

Good luck.

I had tests
My breast surgeon ordered the BRCA 1 & 2 tests at the consultation due to family history of breast cancer. I wanted piece of mind not only for myself but my twin sister and my son and offspring that he may have one day. Mine came back negative.

Margo