Thistles and Roses: Cancer and the BRCA genes. What does it mean?

The BRCA1 and BRCA2 are genetic suppressors that play a major role in DNA repair and cell growth. Mutations of these genes significantly increase the risk of developing breast, prostate, ovarian, and other cancers.

My grandmother, aunt, mother, and cousins had breast cancer and died. My mother passed the gene to me and my sister. I have prostate and other primary cancers. I have survived them all.

I wish I had tested for the BRCA gene earlier. Maybe these cancers would have been caught earlier. The most famous BRCA carrier is actress Angelina Jolie. She estimated that her chance of developing breast cancer was 87 percent and ovarian cancer was 50 percent. She prophylactically had her breasts, ovaries, and fallopian tubes surgically removed. It has become known as the “Angelina Jolie” effect.

The way it works is that if one parent has the gene, each child has a 50-50 chance of getting it. If both parents have it, the chance of each child is 100 percent. My mother tested positive before she died. She had breast and stomach cancer. I foolishly waited, not thinking too much about it.

Then I was diagnosed with prostate cancer that could have been found earlier. So the simple message is, get tested, especially if there is a history of cancer in your family. Contact your doctor about getting tested. Most insurance covers it. They have less to lose if it is detected early.

Don’t be like me. Get it tested — now!