What happened, in summary

Sharon Kovach grew up with breast cancer in her family: her grandmother and mother had both been diagnosed, and her mother died from the disease at age 56. An abnormal mammogram led to Sharon’s own diagnosis in October 1999, 1 month after her 40th birthday. She had no symptoms and chose a mastectomy.

Four years later, Sharon felt a lump during a breast self-exam. A biopsy confirmed that the cancer had returned. In 2003, she underwent surgery to remove the recurrent tumor, followed by 6 months of chemotherapy and radiation. By age 63, she had remained in remission since that second course of treatment.

The family history also led Sharon’s daughter, Michelle, to pursue BRCA testing and long-term high-risk screening. Michelle did not develop cancer and later chose a preventive double mastectomy. Mother and daughter shared their experiences to encourage other families to know their history, attend screening, and discuss prevention and early detection with their clinicians.