The Importance of Breast Cancer Screenings & Genetic Testing
- More than one year after learning she was positive for the BRCA2 gene mutation, and shortly after being diagnosed with stage two breast cancer, TODAY contributor Jill Martin, 48, is spreading hope and strength by sharing her journey with the disease.
- Martin, who is now cancer-free, learned she had an aggressive form of breast cancer shortly after undergoing genetic testing. She beat the disease after undergoing chemotherapy, surgeries to remove both her breasts, her ovaries, fallopian tubes, and breast reconstruction. Martin remains on two chemotherapy pills to prevent cancer recurrence.
- The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends women at average breast cancer risk begin screening for breast cancer at age 40. Women with the BRCA gene mutation, who have a family history of cancer or have dense breasts, are at higher risk and should talk with their doctor about when to screen may be younger than 40.
- Genetic tests can be as simple as a simple saliva swab or blood sample. The results help your care team determine if you have a specific mutation that puts you at higher risk for cancer. The results help doctors tailor your treatment and are helpful for breast cancer patients.
- Germline genetic testing for inherited predisposition for breast (and ovarian) cancer can include just BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing (gene mutations that elevate cancer risk) or a more comprehensive gene panel that might include 15-25 genes.
Breast Cancer: Prevention & Screening
Read MoreIn Martin’s case, getting genetic testing done to check if she had any gene mutations, specifically the BRCA gene mutation which increases your chance of developing cancer, including breast and ovarian, was life-saving for her. She was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer after getting an MRI prior to preventive surgery.View this post on Instagram
What you need to know about the BRCA2 gene
Martin tells us that although a cancer diagnosis can lead to a strenuous journey ahead she truly believes anyone can power through the hard times, like she has been able to do, with hope, support, and being open and honest about your mental health through it all.
She tells SurvivorNet, “I am now a proud breast cancer survivor, and that’s really a title I am so super proud of. It’s a club that I never wanted to be a part of, but now that I am a part of it, it is my most valuable title and one I’ve worked the hardest for.
“My surgeon told me this, it [a cancer battle] puts a magnifying glass on everything. And so I think any kind of trauma does. And so I think you really learn, learn who belongs in your life, who doesn’t, what belongs in your life, and you act accordingly. And I think there’s a reason that people are called warriors. I never understood that word until I became one. And I truly am one now, and I am one now because I fought for it.”
And fight she did.
RELATED: ‘Adversity And The Art of Happiness:’ How Hardship Makes You Even Stronger
The 12-time Emmy Award winner and New York Times best-selling author, admits, “I want everyone to be happy. I believe there’s success for everybody. If I could wear glitter all the time and Sherpas and spread kindness, that would be my life’s mission.
“I don’t want bad for anybody. I really am that kind of silver lining person. And so when I was diagnosed, I immediately jumped into, I’m not going to let this take over my life.”
WATCH: Understanding the BRCA Gene Mutation
Martin admitted her breast cancer journey, like everyone else’s is “very unique.”
The disease runs in her family and her beloved grandmother Shirley passed away from breast cancer. Her mom battled the disease as well.
“I always was aware and I was always on top of it. I was one of those people that knowledge is power. So I wasn’t afraid to go get the test, although every time I went in for my mammogram, which is the best test that we have, but no test is perfect,” she says.
“So I was up on my mammograms, up on my sonograms the day I was diagnosed. My mammogram was clean. I had a clean sonogram in January, but again, no test is perfect. A doctor said, ‘Have you ever tested for the BRCA mutation?’ And I said, ‘Actually, my mother tested after she had breast cancer and she’s negative, and breast cancer doesn’t run on my father’s side.”
However, thankfully her doctor encouraged her to take a genetic test to know for sure— three weeks later she learned she had the BRCA2 gene mutation, something which prompted her doctor to suggest screenings and preventative surgery, as she was told she had a 60 to 90 percent chance of getting the disease.
Despite being hesitant to inform her mother about having the gene mutation, Martin tells us, “I then got into power mode and I made all the calls and I found who I think was the best surgeon for me, and went to all the appointments and scheduled the preventive surgery. And I said, ‘I want your first appointment available.'”
However, when she was set to get preventative surgery three weeks later, she had an MRI done in advance, which revealed aggressive breast cancer.
“Had I not had that genetic test and found out that I had the bar mutation from my father’s side, so from my father’s side is the mutation. I don’t know if I would be here today to tell this story. So my mission and why I feel like I was put on this earth is to educate, advocate, and to make sure no other family has to go through this unnecessarily.
“I was born with the BRCA mutation, so had I known this, I would’ve done the preventive surgery ahead of time. That would’ve been my choice. Some people choose to get screened, I would’ve chosen and I wouldn’t have had to go through six surgeries, aggressive chemotherapy that turned my life upside down. Radiation. I’m on two chemo safety net pills, which are my best friends. My journey could have been avoided.”
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Martin, who has dedicated a lot of her time amid her cancer journey creating “hero items” to support breast cancer awareness, admits she’s dealt with “trauma” and it hasn’t been easy reaching this stage of her being cancer-free.
“I cold capped and was in the chemotherapy room for 12 hours at each time, that to me is what I think about every single day. I think you can’t quantify trauma. Everybody’s grief, whatever you feel is, is your way to feel,” she says.
“And so I would just like to say that even when you’re at your lowest and you’re on steroids or you’re on these pills, and they’re so hard, these pills are so hard. I take the pills every day, the two chemo, I call them chemotherapy pills, and everyone’s on different ones and no journey is the same, but I say to them, thank you so much for fighting for me. ”
Jill Martin On Working Through Chemo
As for how Martin coped with chemotherapy treatments while continuing to do her job, she admits to scheduling her work with the TODAY show around her chemo treatments.
She told us, “If anyone has been through chemotherapy, you’re your strongest as the weeks go on. So in between treatment, I would schedule my appearances. I would actually be on the air the day I was going to chemotherapy because by then my body had repaired itself and I was the strongest that I would be.
“I would come to the show, be on the show, then go to chemotherapy after it, and then my healing week the first week.”
Martin also recounting feeling like she was getting “punched in the face” as she went through treatment, noting that the day of her chemo was her “strongest” day.
Pointing out how there is “no normal” when it comes to how one feels after a cancer battle, Martin, who insists she’s “never missed a day of work in my life,” recounted how she was able to start her own consumer company and create what she calls “hero items,” including stylish pink loungewear, while recovering in bed.
Striving to get the best, Martin, who works with a blanket company to design apparel and other items, said, “I paid the NBA, the WNBA colleges, sororities, fraternities. It’s not easy to get those licenses. I said, ‘I’m going to use my very small color war team. I have four people who work with me, and we’re going to go get all these licenses.’
“I could fill out the forms from bed. I can have meetings from bed. And so in chemotherapy, in bed, I was on Zoom calls taking my hero four hero items. And many of them I’m using as a canvas to support breast cancer awareness.”
Among her comfy clothing items, are blankets, a hoodie and sherpa loungewear.
View this post on Instagram
Looking For ‘Silver Linings’
The fashionista ultimately insists the best advice she can give is to “empower yourself and to be your own best friend and to advocate for yourself,” further explaining, “There’s always that fork in the road with whatever you’re going through, and believe me, nobody would blame me if I wanted to crawl into bed and just lay there.
“But every day when I get up and I want to trust me, I want to. But then I have a cup of coffee and I get up out of bed and I get my ass up and I work out because you have to work out after radiation, you have to do that. And I choose to thrive. And that’s what I’m doing.”
She adds, “I choose to thrive every day. And when somebody asks me, how are you doing? I say, I’m thriving under the circumstances.”
Martin, also known for her popular “Ambush Makeover” segments on TODAY, previously described her chemotherapy as intense, and something that was accompanied with several side affects, like nausea, vomiting, and hair loss. However, she turned to scalp cooling devices helping preserve her hair amid treatment.
As for one tip of encouragement for others, Martin explains, “For me, people always say to me, ‘I’m going through blank, but I don’t want to tell you because it’s not cancer.’ And I say, ‘Thank goodness, it’s not cancer.’
“Trauma is trauma, and grief is grief. And whatever you are going through, I see you and I acknowledge that when you wake up every day, there is a fork in the road no matter what you are going through. And sometimes you feel like pulling the covers up over your head and you’re allowed, and you’re allowed to give yourself that grace. But sometimes you just need to put your two feet on the ground, have a cup of coffee and move on.com. And that’s what I’m choosing to do most days.
She concluded, “But grief is grief and it should never be compared. And if you’re feeling something, I am saying to you, I see you and I hear you. And no, thank goodness if you’re not going through breast cancer. But if you are, I am pulling for you. And I’m telling you that there is another side.
“It may not look like what it did before, but there’s a lot of sadness and there’s also a lot of beautiful silver linings, and I hope you can find them too.”
View this post on Instagram
Learning More About Breast Cancer Risk Genetic Testing
Genetic testing it can be as simple as a simple saliva swab or blood sample. The results help your care team determine if you have a specific mutation that puts you at higher risk for cancer. Additionally, genetic testing aids doctors in tailoring your specific treatment, therefore very helpful for breast cancer patients.
It’s important to point out that the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, are among the most important genes to look for in breast cancer.
How Testing For BRCA In Breast Cancer Works
Together, they are responsible for about half of all hereditary breast cancers. These genes prevent cells from dividing haphazardly and uncontrollably in a person without mutations. Mutations prevent these genes from doing their job and can allow unchecked growth of breast, ovarian, and other tissues.
According to the National Cancer Institute, about “13% of women” in the general population will develop breast cancer sometime during their lives. By contrast, 55% to 72% of women who inherit a harmful BRCA1 or BRACA2 variant will develop breast cancer by 70 to 80 years of age.
The Importance of Breast Cancer Screenings
Screening for breast cancer is normally done through a mammogram, which looks for lumps in the breast tissue and signs of cancer. While there is some disagreement about the exact age a woman should start getting mammograms, doctors generally agree it should happen in their 40s.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) suggests women should begin annual mammogram screenings for breast cancer at age 45 if they are at average risk for breast cancer.
WATCH: Mammograms are still the best tool for detecting breast cancer.
The ACS also advises:
- Women aged 40-44 have the option to start screening with a mammogram every year
- Women aged 55 and older can switch to a mammogram every other year
- Women aged 55 and older could also choose to continue yearly mammograms
For screening purposes, a woman is considered to be at average risk if she doesn’t have a personal history of breast cancer, a strong family history of breast cancer, a genetic mutation known to increase risk of breast cancer such as a BRCA gene mutation or a medical history including chest radiation therapy before the age of 30.
Experiencing menstruation at an early age (before 12) or having dense breasts can also put you into a high-risk category. If you are at a higher risk for developing breast cancer, you should begin screening earlier.
Don’t delay speaking with your doctor to make sure you are staying on top of your breast health.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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