Thursday, June 21, 2007

Cancer Gene

They have discovered that a deadly cancer gene may be coming from Dad rather than Mother. They have found that half of the genetic breast cancers are inherited from a woman's father, not her mother. But one thing about it is that unless Dad has female relatives with breast cancer, the faulty gene may have been passed down silently, without causing any cancer. Although it is unusual, men can get genetic cancer too. This deadly gene's path can hide in a family tree when a woman has few older sisters and aunts and her breast cancer appears to have appeared out of nowhere. The new study suggests that thousands of young women, as many as 8,000 a year in the U.S. aren't offered testing to identify the faulty genes and clarify medical decisions. Testing can cost more than $3,000 so insurance companies should change their guidelines to decide coverage for this genetic testing.

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