Dr ordered BRCA.

racheal1977

Today I went and got the Brca test. Can I still talk to a genetic counselor after the results come in ? I did not talk to one before the test. I understand some of the test, but not all of it. My regular Dr ordered it for me..

Luckynumber47

My center did it the other way around. I saw the counselor first. She made a family tree with all the cancer on both sides of my family and said I was a good candidate for the test. When the results came back she called to say everything was negative except for the variant of unknown significance on the atm and they consider that a negative.

I suspect if any of the genes were positive then I would have received more actual counseling

racheal1977

I don't have a strong history of bc in the family. My great great grandma and her sister had it. I have one aunt who had it and numerous cousins and 2nd cousins who have had & still have it all from the same side.. But from what I understand that would not put me in any risk. We are not really sure on my paternal side except on my dads moms side. My great aunt and great grandma had it. We are slowly finding out history for my father's dads( my grandpa) bio side of the family. He was adopted so its been interesting to say the least. So far just 4 of my dads aunts have had it. They are all deceased now, but their children and grand children have had breast cancer and ovarian cancer. The men 11 of them have also had some type of cancer. My grandpa also died of cancer in 1965.

I am just not sure if it was a good idea to do the test, if that makes sense.

Luckynumber47

Knowledge is power. The more you know about your body the better you will be able to fight what's going on. If you find out you have a defective gene your Drs might advise you of potential for other cancers. For example, if you are BRCA positive you also run a risk for ovarian cancer. Your Drs might recommend a prophylactic BMX vs a lumpectomy or more regular screening

You said 4 of your dad's aunts had cancer and many of their children/grandchildren also have it. Even if nothing shows up in the genetics test it certainly shows a strong familial predisposition. Do you have children or siblings who could benefit from the results of your test?

From what I understand the genetics for breast cancer can be passed from/to males just as easily as females. And these defective genes can cause cancer in both sexes so it's really good to know what's going on.

leaf

I talked to a genetics counselor both before testing (to get my family history), and after testing. I imagine if results were negative or variant of unknown consequence, the post-test appointment would either not occur or be much shorter. My gyn did testing too, but that was EXTREMELY rushed; I had like 2 minutes flat to list the many relatives I had who had breast cancer related conditions and their age. For me, my experience with the genetics counselor was MUCH more productive.

Since we don't know EVERY gene involved in breast cancer, we don't know whether or not there may be some breast cancer-related genes on the X (or Y) chromosome. I don't know of any breast cancer-related genes on the X (or Y) chromosomes.I think most genetically-attributable breast cancer is passed on by both genders (in other words, you can get it from your father or your mother. I assume another alternative is to have a de-novo mutation, where your biological parents didn't carry the mutation, but the mutation started in your germ line. )

racheal1977

THANK YOU so much ladies. I ended up talking to a genetic counselor through the company who did the testing. She recommend I do the 8 panel gene test. So that's what we did. The results came back today and they are negative. She did say I need to be monitored closely for the LCIS, but I already knew that.

Thank you girls