Breast cancer gene testing

The famous movie star Angelina Jolie underwent a genetic test related to breast cancer two years ago, which suddenly made this type of test popular. But two years later, many people may still not know whether they should take this test, and what they should do after doing it. So who needs to do it? Who doesn’t need to do it?

Who needs BRCA gene testing?

The breast cancer gene test referred to here refers to the BRCA gene mutation test. BRCA is composed of the first two letters of the English words "breast" and "cancer", which shows that this gene mutation is closely related to breast cancer. However, this genetic gene is also associated with other cancers, such as ovarian cancer. In fact, everyone has the BRCA gene in their body. This gene itself is not only harmless, but also very important to our body because its main function is to suppress tumors. This gene protects us if our cells start dividing too quickly. When mutated BRCA genes occur, these protective factors are turned off, which can significantly increase the risk of some types of cancer.

The new manual emphasizes that for women, whether they have been diagnosed with breast cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer or peritoneal cancer, or if their ancestors have BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations, they should communicate with their doctors and have them assessed using a family risk assessment form. If the assessment data shows that the total score of risk factors is high, then you should consider consulting a professional genetic counselor and decide whether to do genetic testing based on the consultation results.

Compared with the old manual published in 2013, the new manual adds two categories of people who need to be assessed. One is people who have had one of the cancers in the past, and the other is people whose ancestors carry dangerous gene mutations (this mainly refers to some special groups).