Should You Get BRCA Gene Testing?

 Should You Get BRCA Gene Testing?

You might be a good candidate to for BRCA testing if you have any of the following:

Personal history of breast cancer.

Personal history of triple-negative breast cancer, a type of breast cancer that’s often more resistant and accounts for 10 to 15% of all breast cancers during pakage, according to the American Cancer Society.

Personal history of male breast cancer.

Personal history of two or more separate cancers.

Family history of breast cancer, ovarian cancer or both.

A family member with a known BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation.

Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. Those of Ashkenazi Jewish descent have a higher risk for a BRCA gene mutation. In fact, 1 in 40 Ashkenazi Jewish women carries the mutation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Personal history means you have personally received a medical diagnosis either presently or in the past. Family history usually includes first- and second-degree relatives, Eng says.

“The closer they are to you, the bigger the red flag is,” says Dr. Charis Eng, chair and founding director of Cleveland Clinic’s Genomic Medicine Institute in Ohio.

If there is a family red flag, Eng recommends testing for the mutation in the youngest relative with a relevant cancer diagnosis.

Testing when there is a personal or family history of relevant cancer diagnoses will give you a clear result: A negative test means they are not carrying the BRCA gene mutation and cannot pass it on to children.

On the other hand, if you test someone without any personal or family history of carrying the BRCA mutation and they test negative, results aren’t as clear. That person may not have inherited the mutation present in the family, and the hereditary risk is unclear.