Searcher (Cancer)

This article that I found talks about BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes, which is what we talked much about on Wednesday. The first part of this article talks about what BRCA 1 and 2 do. Without mutation, BRCA 1 and 2 help keep breast cells growing normally and repair cell damage. We talked about in class how when they are mutated, it can cause cancer. One thing in class that I found interesting was that there was a really small percent of breast cancer that was actually cause by BRCA 1 and 2 mutations and this article emphasis that. It states that only 10 percent of breast cancers are cause by BRCA 1 and 2.

            This article goes on to talk about a study that was done to try and find the best age to have your ovaries or breasts removed if you find that you have a BRCA 1 or 2 mutation. In this article, it says that while it says that for some woman it is absolutely a good idea to get these parts removed, for many women, it can cause more harm than good to their bodies. They include a small section about Angelina Jolie getting a double mastectomy and her ovaries removed, which is also a topic that was brought up in class and talked about how the social media gets involved and how many breast cancer adds are actually offensive.

            In conclusion they found that woman should get their ovaries or breasts removed if they have a mutation before the age of 35, which is contrary to what was previously recommended (35-40). I would like to know more about this topic such as how does one find out that they have a BRCA mutation? However, I found this article related very much to our discussion for the week.

Rachel