BRCA2 Breast Cancer: Tanja's Patient Story

What happened, in summary

Tanja Auer was 46, married, and a mother when she looked back on 2 breast cancer diagnoses. In March 2012, after feeling a lump in her breast, a biopsy confirmed breast cancer. The diagnosis felt overwhelming, but she asked for a week to think before moving into treatment. Her first treatment was breast-conserving surgery followed by radiation therapy. During a later follow-up visit, doctors found a tumor in the other breast. That second diagnosis brought fresh fear and the question of whether cancer would ever truly end. The second breast tumor was treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Around the same period, her biological father and stepfather both died from cancer, and her sister was also diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. Genetic testing then showed that Tanja carries a BRCA2 mutation. Her daughters’ genetic-test results were still pending, and her greatest wish was that their lives would turn out well even if they were also carriers. Tanja continued close breast follow-up, but the repeated surveillance made it difficult to feel finished with cancer. She was considering preventive ovary removal and hoped that removing her port at the same time would help her place a clearer end point after treatment.