Breast Cancer Gene: Health Story

Aired on Lifetime Television
Sunday, November 4 and December 23, 2007

Show 425

"I did not have a family history of breast cancer. And I didn't have any other risk factors for breast cancer. I ate right. I exercised. I didn't drink alcohol. I took care of my health," says Sue Friedman. Still, at age 33, Sue Friedman found out she has breast cancer. She carried a gene mutation, BRCA, which had caused her breast cancer. Dr. Rebecca Sutphen says the gene can cause "up to an 87 percent lifetime risk to develop breast cancer, and up to a 45 percent lifetime risk to develop ovarian cancer." For most women the risk of carrying a mutation in either of the BRCA genes is small: about one in 500 to one in 800. Sue Friedman's positive test result for the BRCA gene had some unintended benefits. She started FORCE, an organization dedicated to helping other people get the information they need on hereditary cancer. "What I deal with every day with FORCE is helping people become empowered by the information and not overwhelmed by it," says Sue.