Breast Cancer's Stepchild - Ovarian Cancer

October is national Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Our local and national calendars are filled with events celebrating breast cancer survivors and educating women about the detection of this disease.  Even our favorite national football teams celebrate by wearing pink on their jerseys or shoes.

However, one form of cancer which gets lost in the mix is ovarian cancer, which I bet you didn’t know can be directly related to breast cancer through inherited gene mutation.  The gene mutation can cause both breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer.  It’s important for women with a known family history of breast cancer to know about the gene and to take responsible actions to help prevent its consequences.

September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and unless you are a survivor most people aren’t even aware of it.  Each year it sort of just quietly slips by without too much fanfare.  Teal is the color for ovarian cancer.  Not too much of that displayed nationally.

In full disclosure, if I seem a little jealous and critical of the big celebration for breast cancer awareness and bemoan the lack of the emphasis for ovarian cancer awareness, it’s because I am bias.   In August my wife’s 10 ½ year journey with ovarian cancer came to an end.

However, because of the close relationship between ovarian cancer and breast cancer, it’s important for women to understand both.   Due to my wife’s family history of breast cancer (her mother died at age 40 in addition to many other relatives) her doctors recommended that she begin the cycle of yearly mammograms and Pap smears earlier than most.  However, because of a lack of knowledge on the part of her doctors in informing her to be tested for mutation of the BRCA1&2 genes, at age 53 she developed ovarian cancer while having perfectly normal mammogram and Pap smear screenings.

She tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation.  Most likely she had inherited the gene mutation from her mother.  So while we were vigilant for breast cancer we missed the other possibility of the gene mutation, ovarian cancer.  She never developed breast cancer.

Ovarian cancer is difficult to detect, there are some symptoms but most women just attribute them to aging.  You don’t develop an external lump which can be detected.  You have to actively look for it.  One sure sign is the BRCA1 or BRCA 2 genes mutation, for you will have on average, a 50 to 85 percent risk of developing breast cancer/ovarian cancer by age 70.

Please be aware that while Breast Cancer Awareness Month will emphasize the screenings for breast cancer, it is important to note that it has another associated form of cancer linked with it through gene mutation that needs special attention and a separate testing procedure, which is covered by most health insurance plans.  If you have a family history of breast cancer and your  OB-GYN doctor is unfamiliar with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation, find a new doctor.