What are the options for a person who has a positive test result?

Several options are available for managing cancer risk in individuals who have a harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 variant. New treatments which may be particularly effective in BRCA variant carriers are also being trialled right now by dedicated researchers around the world.


Surveillance

Surveillance means cancer screening, or a way of detecting the disease early. Screening does not, however, change the risk of developing cancer. The goal is to find cancer early, when it may be most treatable.


Surveillance methods for breast cancer may include mammography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical breast exams. With careful surveillance, many breast cancers will be diagnosed early enough to be successfully treated.


For serious ovarian cancer (the type of ovarian cancer typically associated with a BRCA mutation), surveillance with transvaginal ultrasound, blood tests for CA–125 antigen, and clinical exams is available.  Although there is limited success, surveillance can sometimes find ovarian cancer at an early stage, but it is uncertain whether these methods can help reduce a woman's chance of dying from this disease.


Removal of the ovaries and fallopian tubes is generally recommended when a women has completed her family (not beyond the age of 40 years) and/or 5-10 years earlier than the youngest family member with a BRCA mutation who has ovarian cancer. At this stage, removal of the ovaries seems to be the only safe way to manage the risk of ovarian cancer in a BRCA mutation carrier.


​Risk-reducing (prophylactic) Surgery

This involves removing as much of the "at-risk" tissue as possible in order to significantly reduce the chance of developing cancer.


Bilateral prophylactic mastectomy (removal of healthy breasts) and prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomy (removal of healthy fallopian tubes and ovaries) do not, however, offer a guarantee against developing cancer, because not all at-risk tissue can be removed by these procedures, but it does greatly reduce the odds.


The risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer can be reduced by 90% or more with risk-reducing surgery.

Breast reconstruction: an overview

​Breast reconstruction is an increasingly common surgical procedure for women who have had a mastectomy. A surgeon may carry out a breast reconstruction immediately following a mastectomy or some time after treatment. The aim of a breast reconstruction is to create a breast that resembles a natural breast - in appearance and form. Today there are many ways for a surgeon to do this but typically it is either by creating a breast mound by using an artificial implant or tissue from your own body. The procedure best for you depends on a range of factors that include, but are not limited to, your age, general health, whether or not you are having cancer treatment, your available body tissue and or whether or not you are a smoker.


A breast reconstruction is a very personal choice. A choice that can be very difficult for some and straightforward for others.


Breast reconstruction takes more than one surgery. Extra steps may include:​


  • Adding a nipple
  • Changing the shape or size of the reconstructed breast
  • Operating on the opposite breast for a better match
  • Tattooing around the areola.


Peer support through The Gift of Knowledge provides the opportunity talk to others who have had, or are considering, risk-reducing surgery.