Breast monitoring

[mrstadpole]

I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer 3 years ago and due to me taking part in the Genome 1000 trial I also found out that I was BRCA 2+. Because of this I was told that I would be monitored for breast cancer each year with a mammogram and consultation.

I went for my yearly check yesterday, had a mammogram and was told that I would not be monitored any more as next year I would be 70 and one no longer qualifies for this kind of monitoring anymore.

The consultant said that it was unusual for women of my age and with BRCA 2+to be diagnosed with breast cancer. I have no history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer in my family.

Has anyone else been told this? Thanks

Ann xx

[delia2]

Hi. I’m in the US and have a PALB2 mutation which gives me a high chance of breast cancer. I do know that BRCA women tend to get breast cancer at a young age but the norm here is to get mammograms once a year and breast mris once a year. However since I am on Olaparib I’m just getting once yearly mammograms.

[mrstadpole in reply to delia2]

Thank you for your reply. Do ladies in the states still get yearly mammograms once they have turned seventy?

Thanks x

[delia2 in reply to mrstadpole]

I actually looked this up. Apparently you can switch to every other year at 55 but insurance covers every year and there’s no upper age limit. This is based on American Cancer Society recommendations.

[mrstadpole in reply to delia2]

Thank you. This is very good for American citizens.

[Lyndy]

I was told age 59 that my risk of BC is falling but I still get high risk screening. I would check that your risk is lower now... it may well be but it would be good to know!

[mrstadpole in reply to Lyndy]

Thank you Lyndy. The consultant seemed to think that because I will be 70 next birthday then my risk was low.

[Iside]

Hi, I too was diagnosed with with OC stage 3 in my 70’s but as am not BRAC2 breast cancer never mentioned. It is poss.to req, mammograms after 70. Good luck, Iside

[girakoch]

Yes!! I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2017, and had previously had an early ductal

breast cancer in 2002. I am also BRCA2. What you were told is quite wrong as I am

now 73 and am monitored for breast cancer with mammograms every year.

My mammogram in January showed I was clear, but to my horror, a CT scan later in the year

showed I have a lobular tumour in the same breast as before. I was very shocked, especially

after the 'clear' mammogram. I am now being treated with letrazole for both the breast and a recurrence of ovarian cancer in my lymph nodes.

I have my annual mammograms in the Family Unit in Kings. Please do insist that you are monitored annually, and do check your own breasts. Even without a BRCA gene, you can have a new breast tumour in your seventies. It happened to a friend of mine.

I don't want to be alarmist, far from it, but breast cancer is a reality for older women,and those with BRCA genes are vulnerable.

[mrstadpole in reply to girakoch]

Thank you for letting me know. I haven't had breast cancer but ovarian cancer. I will look into this. It seems odd I was told this by a Breast surgeon in Cheltenham. Goodluck with you future treatment. Ann

[LittleMissStubborn]

Hi Ann

I've just returned from my 'squash and squeeze' at the Breastscreening Unit. The receptionist couldn't find me on the list and to cut a horrendous story short I ended up phoning my trial team who very quickly sorted it out. Anyway, to get to the point. My Mum was diagnosed with breast cancer, stage 3c forty years ago. She is BRAC2, but we only knew this when I was diagnosed with OC three years ago .I am BRAC2. Mum phoned me after my appointment this morning to say that she had just received a letter to say that as she is over 70 (She is in fact 78) she will not automatically be sent appointments for breast screening anymore, but, as she is in the high risk group with BRAC2 that she can, if she wants, phone and book her annual mammograms. Sounds to me like they are putting the onus on over 70s with BRAC to book their breast screenings. Sounds like a cost cutting exercise to me. Some people will fall through the net with this new system.

The BRAC2 mutant gene is hereditary. It has to come from one of your parents. The testing for it is relatively new. However, neither of my grandparents (Mum's parents) had cancer despite the fact that at least one of them had to have carried the mutant gene. Having a BRAC gene increases the risk of cancer, but is not a guarantee that you will have it.

My Mum will be phoning and booking to continue her annual mammograms. Breast cancer is a very real threat for women of all ages, especially with the a BRAC mutant gene.

I would urge you to continue to have annual mammograms Ann.

Hope this helps.

Nicola

[mrstadpole in reply to LittleMissStubborn]

This information is very helpful Nicola. I was told in 2019 that I would be monitored each year by the consultant who was involved in the Genome trial. This was an agreed decision at the time. I had a different consultant this year due to Covid and appointments being delayed so perhaps the information given to me is wrong.

I will phone up and try to book a mammogram nearer the time next year. It was explained at the time that the BRCA2+ gene was inherited and cannot skip a generation. I guess if my mother had lived until she was much older(She died from a stroke) then she may have developed cancer but as you say not necessarily.

Ann