Inherited breast cancer: Ask Mom

Double mastectomy for mother and sonMedikForum
A unique case in the history of world medicine – mother and son both underwent double mastectomy, and in both cases it was a surgical intervention related to the issue of life and death.

At the end of 2009, American Linda Skillcom faced, perhaps, the most difficult decision in her life. She learned that she has an increased risk of developing deadly breast cancer and it is in her interests to perform a preventive double mastectomy, which would completely save the woman from danger. Linda knew well what kind of disease it was, since she lost her mother to breast cancer at the age of 12. Mammary gland tumor was found in both of her sisters.

A 55-year-old office worker from Chicago finally decided to have surgery. But she could not imagine that in just a year her only son Cedric would face the same problem.

Doctors found a mutation of the BRCA2 gene in Linda, and according to statistics, this increases the chances of developing breast cancer by more than five times. She recalls that the decision to have a double mastectomy became incredibly difficult and painful for her. But the news that the malicious gene mutated in the son's body turned into a real nightmare.

A 29-year-old railway worker once complained to his mother that his chest had become very sensitive. Cedric himself wasn't too worried about this, but for Linda it was a wake-up call. She took her son to the doctor, and the doctor found precancerous growths in both breasts of the young man.

Cedric admits that he has never felt more shocked than that day. "I'm a man," he says. "And a man shouldn't have breast cancer." But soon Cedric was forced to undergo a double mastectomy. However, in his case it is still not as traumatic as his mother's.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru22.06.2010