Several years ago, a new patient booked an appointment with Dr. Jonathan Herman in his Lake Success, NY office. Herman, a longtime OB/GYN, took careful notes while taking her family history and, during the subsequent examination, discovered a lump in her right breast. A biopsy confirmed his worst suspicions: It was cancer.
The tragedy of this case, recalled Herman, was that it didn’t have to be so. The woman revealed that her mother had breast cancer and her maternal grandmother had died from ovarian cancer. The woman carried mutations on the BRCA gene associated with breast and ovarian cancers.
“That history didn’t happen yesterday,” said Herman, who tests for and treats those with the gene. “Someone should have told her about BRCA mutations and had her tested years ago.”
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Herman dreads these kinds of stories. Unfortunately, they are all too abundant, which is why he works tirelessly to educate people about the need to get tested for the BRCA gene, which increases the risk for cancers.
Read the full, original story: Genetic tests empower women and offer choices, say experts
