What is Cascade Genetic Testing? And How Can it Save lives?

Cascade Testing is one of the most important tools for breaking the cycle of hereditary cancer in families. It is the testing-sharing-testing-sharing of genetic test results among blood relatives.

Is there a history of cancer in your family? (Grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, or cousins?) Genetic testing saves lives!

Cascade testing requires two important steps:

1. Having testing done.
2. Sharing information.
That includes sharing test results and the specific mutation in the gene, like 3773delTT in BRCA2. And as soon as the information is known.

You can download a PDF of the graphic here.

 

#BRCA2 #NEWS #HereditaryCancer #GeneticTesting #CascadeTesting #FamilyCancerHistory

Health Care Privacy Laws Need to be Re-evaluated

I don’t have to imagine this; I lived this nightmare.
 
My wife died a horrible death from hereditary cancer. But her cancer and her untimely death could have been prevented.
 
The graphic is loosely based on my late wife’s family pedigree. In her family, the exact same BRCA2 mutation-- let me repeat that -- EXACT SAME BRCA2 MUTATION is shared among 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and possibly 6th degree (too young to test) blood relatives. That’s a higher degree of separation than is shown on the graphic.

As you can see, it was not just an individual issue; it was a familial issue. Unfortunately, it was not treated as such, resulting in a very preventable tragedy.

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Read my story about this graphic at CureToday.com
Six Degrees of Separation for Cancer Genetics

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Having a genetic mutation that increases your risk of cancer is not that rare.
 
About 1 in 279 people have a genetic mutation that puts them at risk of Lynch Syndrome. Colorectal, stomach, ovarian, and pancreatic cancer, are just some of the cancers associated with the mutations linked to the syndrome.
 
About 1 in 400 people have a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation that puts them at risk of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome.
 
There are more than 50 other hereditary cancer syndromes.
 
And the percentage of hereditary cancers may actually be higher than what is often quoted, as a MAYO study demonstrated: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-11-patients-cancer-harbor-inherited-genetic.html

 

More hereditary cancer information created by me at: www.MARKiX.net/BRCA2
  #HereditaryCancer #GermlineMutations #BRCA1 #BRCA2 #LynchSyndrome #HIPPA #PrivacyLaws #HealthCare ##CancerPedigree #DegreesOfSeperation #HBOC #MAYO #KnowledgeIsPower #PreventCancer #GeneticTesting #GeneticTestingSavesLives

 

Genetic Testing Can Prevent Cancer and Save Lives

Because I advocate about the importance of knowing and sharing family health history, I felt I needed to be fully tested for the 84 known genes associated with hereditary cancers. This is my story at CureToday.com about getting tested.

Genetic testing saves lives.

Here is the link to the story:

Hereditary Cancer Advocacy and Looking into My Genetic Inheritance

 #GeneticTestingSavesLives #germline #GermlineMutation #GeneticTesting #previvor #HereditaryCancerSyndromes #HereditaryCancer #GeneticCounseling
#BRCA2 #BRCA1 #CHEK2 #ATM #PALB2 #PTEN #MLH1 #MSH2 #MSH6 #TP53 #KnowledgeIsPower

The Healing Power of Art

If you know of any cancer patients or caregivers who might benefit from taking a creative break, I have created some coloring pages for them.

It’s a personal project of mine that I’ve just released on the website Art Mends. On the site, you will find several coloring pages that can be downloaded for royalty-free use. I hope to add at least one new image every week.

Art Mends was originally created to provide free art supplies and coloring pages to a local hospital. But I had to give up that project when I became my late wife's full-time cancer caregiver. Hereditary cancer changed everything.

I was inspired to rework Art Mends after doing several art activities and coloring pages as a contributor for Cure Today, the cancer care website. After seeing some of those activities, a reader suggested that I create a coloring book, sell it, and donate the proceeds to a cancer charity. But I think just providing royalty-free pages that can be downloaded anytime for free is far more beneficial for cancer patients and cancer caregivers.

Of course, anyone else who is ill or grieving that might need a creative break is welcome to use the pages as well.

There are no ads or donation requests, just art activities created by me.

The very thought of someone struggling with a cancer diagnosis is heartbreaking. I wish I could cure it. Or better yet, prevent it. But I’m just a professional artist, so the best I can do is try and use my artistic abilities to give someone suffering from the malevolent disease a creative break.

Please share.


#CancerPatients #CancerCaregivers #ArtTherapy #ArtActivities #cancer #CancerIsEvil.

Possible Signs of Hereditary Cancer

This is the part that is often missed when trying to "connect the dots" in hereditary cancer.

Sadly, this lack of knowledge about how one single germline mutation can cause different cancers in family members is why genetic testing is often not recommended for some individuals who may be at risk for hereditary cancer. I know, because it tragically happened to my late wife.

That's why sharing family health history, genetic testing, and genetic counseling are so important. Genetic testing saves lives. Knowledge is power.

For more info about hereditary cancer, go to www.genetinary.org

 #germline #GermlineMutation #GeneticTestingSaveLives #GeneticTesting #previvor #HereditaryCancer #GeneticCounseling
#BRCA2 #BRCA1 #CHEK2 #ATM #PALB2 #PTEN #MLH1 #MSH2 #MSH6 #TP53 #LynchSyndrome #1FORCECommunity #FacingOurRisk #HBOC #BeAFORCEofChange

DNA, Mutations, and Genetic Relatives

I created this infographic for My Faulty Gene, a nonprofit organization. My Faulty Gene "provides information and assistance to underserved, uninsured, and underinsured individuals whose family medical history suggests genetic testing might be helpful in identifying an increased risk of disease due to a genetic mutation."

So many people seem to struggle with genetics. They just don't seem to understand that our DNA connects us to so many people -- and diseases. Sometimes I get confused looks when I try to explain about the BRCA2 germline mutation in my late wife's family and how so many in her family are affected by the exact same variant. That's why I created this.

What is a Germline Mutation?

Please Note: There's a new graphic.Download it here

When I talk or write about hereditary cancer as an advocate, I often mention "germline" when referring to mutations that can cause cancer. But I’ve come to realize that many people don’t seem to know what I’m talking about. So I created this graphic about germline mutations and had it reviewed by a certified genetic counselor.

Tragically, it's because of the lack of basic understanding of genetics, even among some health care professionals, that I’m now a widower.

One germline mutation, a broken BRCA2 gene, that I can now recite by heart, has caused several different cancers and numerous cancer deaths in my late wife’s family. The same BRCA2 mutation has been passed down in my wife’s family for at least four generations. And it might have already been passed to the fifth generation.

But now that the specific mutation has been identified, the cycle of cancer can be broken. That’s why genetic knowledge, genetic testing, and the sharing of family health information are so important.

What is in your germline?