Date Range: 2013 (2) Summer

ICARE Newsletter Summer 2013

Sharing BRCA Test Results with Adolescent and Young Adult Children—What Does the Latest Research Show?

While there are specific recommendations against BRCA testing for minors,1 guidelines are less clear about whether parents should share their own test results with their children. Because there are no recommended surveillance or risk reduction options prior to age 25 for known BRCA mutation carriers, there has been debate about balancing the benefits of sharing …

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Permanent link to this article: https://inheritedcancer.net/2nls2013/

ICARE Newsletter Summer 2013

US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Guidelines for Inherited Breast and Ovarian Cancer and Implications to the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

Recently, the USPSTF released updated draft guidelines in April 2013 (from those previously published in 2005) for inherited breast and ovarian cancer due to germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations.1 USPSTF is comprised of primary care providers who review the available literature and issue guidelines about risk assessment, testing and management based on available evidence. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://inheritedcancer.net/4nls2013/

ICARE Newsletter Summer 2013

Male BRCA Carriers Have Poorer Outcomes from Prostate Cancer

Over the last few years, a number of studies have suggested that men with germline BRCA mutations (especially BRCA2) have poorer outcomes when they develop prostate cancer. In fact, a recent study of 2019 patients with prostate cancer, including 18 BRCA1 carriers, 61 BRCA2 carriers, and 1940 noncarriers indicated that germline mutations were more frequently …

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Permanent link to this article: https://inheritedcancer.net/3nls2013/

ICARE Newsletter Summer 2013

Oophorectomy Following Menopause

Prior studies have indicated that removal of the ovaries and fallopian tubes reduces the ovarian cancer risk by ~80% and breast cancer risk by ~50%, particularly when performed pre-menopausally. However a recent case control study of 2854 pairs of women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation with or without breast cancer showed that the risk …

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Permanent link to this article: https://inheritedcancer.net/5nls2013/

ICARE Newsletter Summer 2013

BRCA Testing: Supreme Court Update

In a landmark decision regarding the patenting of human genes on Thursday June 13, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled that human genes may not be patented. The case specifically concerned the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene patents, held by the Utah-based company, Myriad Genetics. In the ruling, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://inheritedcancer.net/1nls2013/

ICARE Newsletter Summer 2013

Ask the Expert

The following question was addressed by Dr. Pal, who is a Clinical Geneticist based at the Moffitt Cancer Center: Q. Does exposure to radiation increase breast cancer risk in BRCA mutation carriers? A. A number of studies have been conducted to evaluate whether BRCA mutation carriers may be more prone to radiation-induced breast cancer than …

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Permanent link to this article: https://inheritedcancer.net/6nls2013/