Think Pinker

According to the Mayo Clinic the genetic test that can determine what your risk of developing breast cancer is has other factors that must be considered – ones emotional response is one of those.

How would you react if you were told that you carried the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes that increased your risk of developing breast cancer. And since such a small group of women will benefit from such a test there’s a great deal of discussion under way to determine the best way to use it.

If a patient is met with positive test results it could lead to considerable anxiety and worry about whether they will develop breast cancer. The test might be able to say you have a higher risk of developing breast cancer but what it can’t do is tell you exactly what that risk is.

It can even led to strained relationships. Some members of your family may not want to know what their risk is. For example, perhaps your sister doesn’t want to know but if you get the test it’s going to be difficult not to share.

It can also cause a parent to have extreme guilt about passing on “bad genes”. If you haven’t yet had children then you might choose not to have children for fear of putting them at risk. The guilt can be dreadful.

There can also be stress over making medical decisions. At some point you’ll be faced with how you handle the positive diagnoses. Some are quick to insist on having a complete mastectomy but that’s not necessarily the right answer. It’s a good idea to schedule a meeting with an oncologist to discuss your options.

It’s important to realize that a genetic test is just that a test and although you may have the markers that increase your risk of developing breast cancer, it doesn’t mean you will.