BRCA1 Breast Cancer: Mary's Patient Story
This breast cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Biomarkers
- BRCA1 mutation
- Sex
- female
- Treatment
- surgery
Treatment course, step by step
- Underwent a double mastectomy with complete reconstruction in November 2017.
- No follow-up breast cancer treatment was necessary.
What happened, in summary
In 2017, this nurse underwent a mammogram after her doctor raised concerns about very high inflammatory markers and a family history of ovarian cancer. The mammogram detected early-stage breast cancer. A second evaluation at MD Anderson showed that the breast cancer was more invasive than first thought.
Her team recommended genetic testing while she was preparing for breast-conserving surgery. Two days before the planned operation, the results showed an inherited BRCA1 mutation. That finding changed the surgical plan because of her future breast cancer risk.
In November 2017, she underwent a double mastectomy with complete reconstruction. The breast cancer had been caught early, with clean surgical margins and no lymph node invasion, and she did not need additional breast cancer treatment.
Three months later, while preparing for preventive gynecologic surgery because of the BRCA1-associated ovarian cancer risk, testing revealed that she also had ovarian cancer. That diagnosis began a separate treatment journey. Her experience as both a nurse and a patient gave her a new perspective on the value of thorough evaluation, genetic testing and a care team that could adapt quickly when new information changed the treatment plan.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by MD Anderson. Read the original in full
How we source and attribute stories Accuracy and limitations
These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer