A new study shows that dads can pass a gene mutation on to their kids that leads to Breast Cancer, meaning that women who have no family history of Breast Cancer may need to be tested for the mutation anyway. If you have a particular gene mutation called BRCA, you are at a much higher risk for Breast Cancer and Ovarian Cancer, and until now, doctors only tested women for this gene if they had a family history of Breast Cancer. The new study, conducted by Dr. Jeffrey Weitzel and colleagues at City of Hope Cancer Center near Los Angeles, says that even though men rarely get Breast Cancer, they do have the ability to pass the gene mutation on to their children. This means that family history may not be the best indicator of who needs to be tested for the BRCA gene. This helps to explain why some young women with no family history end up having the gene. This is important because if you are diagnosed with Breast Cancer under the age of 50, getting a genetic test could help to save your life, because if doctors know you have the gene, they know to treat the cancer more aggressively and to watch out for Ovarian Cancer. Among all women with Breast Cancer, only one in 20 has the Breast Cancer Gene, but among younger Breast Cancer patients, the percentage is higher.
