The following is a transcript of a report by medical editor Marilyn Brooks that first aired June 19, 2007, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.

---

Did you know you can inherit an increased risk of breast cancer from your father?

A study published in the Journal of American Medical Association found that men can also carry a particular gene mutation called BRCA.

Women with that particular gene are at a much higher risk for breast and ovarian cancer.

Until now, doctors only tested women with a family history of breast cancer for the BRCA gene.

While men don't often develop breast cancer, the new study shows that family history might not tell the entire story.

"I had no family history, and I didn't expect to be diagnosed with breast cancer, but I went for my first mammogram and sure enough, they found a small cancer," said breast cancer survivor Michele Rakoff.

Rakoff was 40 at the time, relatively young for breast cancer. But she lacked a family history, so her doctor didn't test her for the gene mutation.

Researchers said that must change.

"We want to be sure to offer testing to all women who had early onset breast cancer despite the lack of a family history," said study author Dr. Jeffrey Weitzel.

Weitzel and colleagues studied more than 1,500 patients with no family history of breast cancer to see how many had the BRCA gene.

According to their findings, men don't often get breast cancer, but they can pass this gene along to their children.

"We have a woman who's let's say (is) 41 years old with a breast cancer, but her dad had only brothers, so how the heck were we ever going to see this trait coming down dad's side of the family?" said Weitzel.

When too few women are in a family to find the BRCA breast cancer gene, it's called limited family structure. Adequate structure means at least two female relatives surviving past age 45.

In the study researchers found that nearly 14 percent of breast cancer patients with limited family structure had the BRCA gene, compared to just over 5 percent of women with adequate structure.

"What we showed was that if you had a limited family structure, not enough women in the family to help see the trait, that you were three times more likely to be a carrier," said Weitzel.

Doctors who know that will treat breast cancer more aggressively and watch for ovarian cancer as well.

Rakoff does not have the gene, but she is now an advocate for other women.

"We need to make sure that women are aware that you can get a genetic mutation through the line of your father, as well as your mother," said Rakoff.

Among all women with breast cancer, only one in 20 has the breast cancer gene, but among younger breast cancer patients, that percentage is higher. Women who have the gene are more likely to get a second cancer in the other breast and more likely to get ovarian cancer.

---

Related Links:
More County News

Get RSS | E-Mail Alerts

---