Genetic testing helped breast cancer survivor

When Maureen Gianni, a breast cancer survivor, learned that her younger sister had also been diagnosed with breast cancer, she decided to have her remaining breast removed as a precaution.

"When your life is in danger, you just do what you've got to do," said Gianni, 63, of Danbury.

She would have also had her ovaries removed, but the results of a genetic test prevented her from doing so.

Gianni was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999. She had one breast surgically removed and had chemotherapy treatments, she said.

Her sister Donna was diagnosed with breast cancer a year later, Gianni said. About a year after that, the two of them and their sister Marilou had genetic testing done as part of a University of Pittsburgh study, Gianni said.

Marilou had not been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Not counting some kinds of skin cancer, breast cancer in the United States is-

The most common cancer in women, no matter your race or ethnicity.
The most common cause of death from cancer among Hispanic women.
The second most common cause of death from cancer among white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native women.1

In 2007 (the most recent year numbers are available) -

202,964 women were diagnosed with breast cancer.
40,598 women died from breast cancer.

The three took the test to see if they had the breast and ovarian cancer causing genes BRCA1 and BRCA2.

Gianni said she wasn't worried she might have either of the genes because she had already been diagnosed with cancer.

"The shoe's already dropped," she said. "The initial diagnosis is the hardest."

However, none of the sisters tested positive for the genes, Gianni said.

Ovarian cancer is often worse than breast cancer, because it is hard to detect, said Shannon Morrill-Cornelius, a genetic counselor at Danbury Hospital. It is often discovered in stage three or four, when there is less chance of survival, she said.

Facts about breast cancer

The lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is 1 in 8
This means that 1 in 8 women in the UK will develop breast cancer at some point in their life – but of course it also means that 7 out of 8 women won’t develop breast cancer in their lifetime.

Estimated risk of developing breast cancer according to age

Risk up to age 29, 1 in 2,000.
Risk up to age 39, 1 in 215.
Risk up to age 49, 1 in 50.Risk up to age 59, 1 in 22.Risk up to age 69, 1 in 13.Lifetime risk, 1 in 8.