What happened, in summary

Rachel Zitofsky was 38 when she noticed a lump and was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer in April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. She went to MSK Commack and met with a breast surgeon to plan treatment. MRI showed additional suspicious areas in her left breast, so mastectomy of that breast was recommended. Because Rachel was young and had a strong family cancer history, she also had genetic counseling and comprehensive genetic testing. The results showed a BRCA2 mutation, which increased her risk of a second breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Rachel had already been leaning toward double mastectomy, and the BRCA2 result confirmed that choice. The care team also discussed removal of the ovaries and fallopian tubes as risk-reducing surgery because screening has not been proven to lower ovarian cancer mortality in BRCA2 carriers. Chemotherapy and radiation were not described for Rachel. At 4.5 years after diagnosis, Rachel felt good and was taking tamoxifen to help keep potential cancer cells at bay. Her diagnosis also changed her sister Leah’s care: expanded testing found Leah carried the same BRCA2 mutation, leading to preventive surgery that uncovered stage 0 DCIS. Rachel’s cancer became lifesaving information for both sisters.