Any BRCA carrier who lived a long life with no cancer?

If my mom is my carrier (It's not my dad he's been tested) Then she is 60 with no sign of Breast or Ovarian cancer.  I am 28 and I have stage 3 breast cancer BRCA 2+.   My mom is one of 7 siblings, 5 girls, two of the girls have had cancer, one passed from pancreatic cancer a few years ago.  Don't know if this is "old"  but considering my age, if I did get it from my mom I am really happy for her!!

My grandmother was a BRCA2 carrier and lived to be 93 with no breast or ovarian cancer. She developed an elderly-onset leukemia at the age of 91. My BRCA2+ mother is 70 with no breast cancer (she just had ovaries removed and they were clear too). I am BRCA2+ and was diagnosed with BC at 37.

One thing my mother and grandmother have in common is they both had pregnancies by age thirty, while I've never had a pregnancy. In my family this seems to play a role because my grandmother's BRCA2+ sister died of breast cancer around age 50 and she never had children either. So in a way I wish I'd had biological children, but if I had, I might've passed down the bad gene to another generation.Ugh.

It seems that BRCA plays a different role in every family - some of the mutations seem really destructive and others not as bad. Both my grandma and mom did lead healthy lifestyles in terms of not smoking/good diet/not overweight, etc. so that probably helped keep them cancer-free.

My mother is BRCA2+ and had no sign of cancer but had a PBM at age 68 when she found out her genetic status.  She may well have gone through her whole life without a cancer scare.  I am BRCA2+ but had stage II BC at age 45.  We are both active, both have two children.  I can't think of any obvious reason why I developed BC and she did not.

Hi everyone....My great grandmother died of BC at around 40 apparently. My grandmother died at around 74 without having cancer. My mother had it at around 60, my sister when she was 37, and I had it last year at 52. I also had an aunt on the same side who had BC. In my family, BC has not killed anyone in about 100 years. I was tested and am BRCA2.

Hi Dorrie,

 My parents were inconsolable when they found out I was BRCA1+.  They felt such guilt that "one of them put me through so much". In that vein, they both refused to be tested. They did not want to know "who did this to me". I had no family history of BC at that point that might lead to which parent I inherited this mutation from. I was worried for my mom and encouraged her to test to no avail. 

Approximately one year from diagnosis, a paternal cousin was diagnosed with BC and matched my mutation. The mystery was solved. 

I have two teenage daughters, 17 and 15. They are not aware that I am BRCA1+. They have clinical breast exams annually and the oncologist does not recommend more aggressive screening until they are in the early 20s. My husband and I agree that nothing is to be gained from them knowing at this point. There is nothing more to be done, and they cannot be tested until they are at least 18. We think it is a heavy burden to place on our daughters at this stage of their life. Knowledge is power, and I'm thankful every day that my oncologist tested me. There was no compelling reason to do so, other than I was 43 at diagnosis. My daughters will not have to walk my path (BC, BMX, hysterectomy, chemo) because we can be proactive and take measures to hopefully prevent BC in them if they are positive.

Once the news broke about my BRCA1+ status, my father's sisters and brothers were tested. 2 of the 6 siblings were positive. Only my cousin and I are positive from those siblings. I pray every day that my girls are negative, but if they are not, we will do whatever is necessary in the years ahead.

My mom is my carrier (BRCA2) and has not had any type of cancer at age 69. I was diagnosed last year at age 39. I had a child when I was 19 yrs old and breast fed (nursed) for a year. Go figure.

Dj59 - You're doing the right thing, though I'm sorry it's causing so much frustration.

I tested positive for brca2. I'm 43, and Ashkenazi Jewish, so that was enough for the insurance company to cover it. My paternal great-grandmother died of ovarian cancer and paternal great-aunt died of breast cancer in her 50s, so we assume that's where the gene comes from. However, my mom, whose family isn't Jewish, has a sister who had DCIS about 5 years ago. Despite my dx, and my aunt's, the insurance company refused to cover the test for either of my parents, which is frustrating because we'd like to confirm what side it is on for the sake of other family members. My sister tested positive as well, but she's had a child, so hopefully that reduces her risk.

Yes Dorrie!  I agree.  We must look on the brighter side (sometimes hard to do).  I do not want to have another round of bc either, or have an ovarian cancer diagnosis to boot!

I hope to hear more stories though.  I'd like to know that long term survial is out there.

I'm BRCA2+. My Dad died at 82. He did have lymphoma at 80, but was cured of that. Don't know if that is BRCA related. My Mom is 85 going on 86 and is healthy.  The only other cancer has been a cousin on my Dad's side. She had hodgkins lymphoma as a teen (some 50 yrs. ago) and then developed BC. She has passed. But we don't know if the BC was caused from high doses of rads. when she was a teen.  No one else in the family wants to get tested.  I'm thinking it's from my Dad's side, but all my cousins and aunts are fine.  So, I guess folks can have a mutation and it doesn't express itself. 

Rachel 

My mom (BRCA 1) was 55 the first time she was diagnosed with triple negative. We believe her grandfather passed the gene to my mom's mom, (who died of ovarian cancer when she was 37), but he never had any type of cancer. Died in his late 70's, something to do with his heart.

Edited to add: My mom did have a hysterectomy when she was about 46 or 47 because her sister had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

I am brca2+. Came from my mother's side.  My mother and 2 of her sisters had BC, all in their 50's.  Out of their combined 9 children, 5 of them girls, 2 of us have had BC. I am the youngest of the 5 females.  My mother had a very aggressive cancer and did not survive long after discovery.  One of my aunts simply didn't get treated.  The remaining aunt had a 2.5 inch tumor by the time she had a masectomy (late 1970's) and lived til she was 80.  She died of bladder cancer, which is neither related to her primary or brca2. One remaining sister, presumed not brca2+, lived til she was 95.

Their father, the presumed carrier, died in his early 40's of "stomach cancer."  I think it could have been pancreatic cancer. It is only a guess it came from their father's side as their mother and her sisters all had cancer,in their 70's, but "colon cancer."  Two of their daughters (my mother's cousins) had BC.  It's all very confusing.

I have a variation in BRCA1 of 'unknown significance'. But, my oncologist, who is also a genetics specialist said that he regards me as being full BRCA 1 + due to the type of cancer etc. Unfortunately, my sister / nieces cannot be tested because of my 'unknown significance' status. I was diagnosed with TN when I was 45 years old in Sep 2009. I had the tumour removed in Jan 2010 after neoadjuvant chemo (nil pathological response). By Summer 2011 I had pain in the other breast and another BC was found in Oct 2011 - this time DCIS 4cm grade 3 (not detected by mammogram or ultrasound). Mum had ovarian cancer when she was 52 and her sister had BC at 55. Her brother died of pancreatic cancer at 62 and I am currently undergoing tests because of pain on left side and abnormal pancreatic enzymes. I am taking part in the BRCA research in the UK.

Like you Kerri72 I hope that there are some studies out there, but to date I have not come across them.  I enrolled my mother in EMBRACE, but in over 8 years there has been no attempt to follow her up and find out what's happened to her.  I was told they had no cover for collecting tissue samples, only blood.  They do look at possible modifier genes, but as far as I can tell this is a bit of a fishing trip rather than a comprehensive approach. 

 Would be interesting to know how many elderly BRCA2 carriers they have in their database who have not shown signs of cancer.  Many of the earlier studies in the literature did n't bother to look for carriers beyond 70 or 75yrs of age, more recently there seems to be a realisation that BRCA2 cancers can be occurring very late.

My 90 year old grandma is BRCA1+ and she was 88 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She did a double mastecomy and no treatment and is doing well.  My Mom is almost 70, she is BRCA1+ and has had breast cancer twice, but is doing well.  I am 48, BRCA1+, breast cancer in 2008.  My 22 yr old daughter is also BRCA1+.  Breast cancer has hit our family at all different ages, but with my grandmother being 88 before she was diagnosed gives me hope for my daughter.

I was the first in my family to be tested...I am BRCA2+. My three siblings were tested...2 of them do not have the mutation, 1 does. My sister who is also BRCA2+ had BC around 20 years ago...was treated aggressively..she has not had a reoccurance. I had my ovaries and tubes removed this past May, my sister was in last week to have hers removed but they could not find them..so she has to go back for a full open surgery. YIK

My mom also had BC at around 60...Her mom lived to 72 without having cancer, she died from complications of a fall. We figure the mutation is from my mom's side...but she refuses to be tested. I have read that smoking is preventative for BC if you are BRCA2. Strangely enough, I did not get BC until I quit smoking. My diagnosis was 2 years almost exactly from my quit date. Anyone else get BC after quitting smoking? My surgeon said it is also preventative against cervical cancer...but he said that was no reason to start again lol. Both my mom and grandma smoked...my sis who had BC at 37 never smoked. I think I didn't get BC until I was 52 because I smoked. Sorry if I'm off topic here...it's early lol.