Free Republic

Women's Health News Breast cancer risk varies widely among women who are carriers of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, according to a new study published in the January 9, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). "Our results underscore the conclusion that there is no single risk associated with BRCA1 or BRCA2 carrier status," said lead author Colin Begg, PhD, Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, "and the risks in carriers and their relatives must be influenced by other risk factors." Previous studies have reported on the overall increased...

Jill Doimer's mother died in 2002 from ovarian cancer, detected too late to be effectively treated. So Ms. Doimer is eagerly awaiting the introduction of a new test that holds the promise of detecting early-stage ovarian cancer far more accurately than any test available now, using only blood from a finger prick. Not only does she plan to be tested, but an advocacy group she helped found, Ovarian Awareness of Kentucky, also intends to spread the word to women and doctors. "If it's going to happen to me or anyone I know, I want it to be caught at an...