False Negative result?

Trinity789

Anyone heard of a false negative? I have bc and had a lumpectomy on 1/5/11. My mom had bc at 41. The same age as me. The genetic counselor thinks we have a genetic componet that they can't explain because they have not found it. I wasn't wishing for a positve result but not having it is causing me more confusion. I can have elective surgery. Anyone one have simular results? Trying to decide on the masectomy.

I have a large ovarian cyst they are watching. They think its ok but want to remove it after chemo. I think I will have them remove both ovaries.

Mutd

Possible but unidentified genetic factor, yes, that's what most of us would suspect in this case (but suspicion isn't a proof! Depending on what kind of risk prediction model you use, women with your kind of strong history of cancer still have about even chances of getting positive and negative results. Quite a few cancer clusterings don't have a strong genetic reason. And a small fraction of other families may have a mutation but not in the genes srutinized by the test)

It isn't a technical false negative result. But it may be called uninformative negative result. As in, the test looked at the most common types and locations of mutations, and there is nothing there. So far so good. But a small chance remains that there is something genetic of an unusual type, or in an unusual place, where the test haven't looked. And so sometimes you weigh the chances and you may find a reason to remove ovaries, even with a negative result.

The answers also strongly depend on what test your took. Was it for a known mutation in the family, or for the entire genes? Did it include BART for added sensitivity? The GC should know these details well...

shadow2356

My mother had it at 44 and so did I. My cousin and grandmother also had it. I am BRCA- . My cousin is +. My doctor sent it again because she thought it was wrong. I recently found out that Myriad is very close to a BRCA3. It is possible that there are other mutations they can't test for yet. They told me that ER/PR- and HER2+ often has a strong hereditary component. I am doing all possible treatment but I am very worried for my 3 year old daughter.

Trinity789

Hello,

I appreciate the info. Other than it was the brca1 & brca and that they looked at 4 different types of areas where known mutations exist,..sequencing and other normal testing areas. She basically said similar info. They don't know because they haven't found it yet. Try back in 2-3 years or let them pull other family records or death certificates to see if any unusual disorders can be found that would indicate something else. They did not look for a family mutation. I will ask about BART.

Thank you

Trinity789

Thanks for the info. We are similar situations with the HER2 and family history. Think positive thoughts for your daughter and hope all is going well for you.

CiaoVino

I was diagnosed with breast cancer last month. And I'm 29 years old. My mother was diagnosed at age 52 (8 years ago and still looking great!). When I sat down with the genetic couselor to do my family pedigree, I was shocked to learn that my mom has 5 first cousin (my second cousins) with either breast or ovarian ca...in one case, both. These women ranged in age from early 20s to my mom at 52. It was pretty much a dead giveaway that I would test positive for BRCA1 or 2. But...I'm negative. Of course this comes with a whole other host of emotions ("great. so there is no genetic connection they can point to now...i guess i have reeeeal crappy luck!"). i am still waiting for my BART results. Regardless, I hoped, in a weird, weird way that I would test positive because then I would have a "reason" as to why I have to go through this at such a young age.