ARiCa tool developed for Asian women enables more accurate identification of BRCA carriers for more precise treatment plans for cancer patients while enabling cancer prevention for their close relatives.
Angelina Jolie, who has never had cancer before, decided to have a preventive double mastectomy because she has a BRCA1 gene mutation, which puts her at increased risk for breast cancer. Photo: Filepic/AFP
In 2013, American actress Angelina Jolie, who has never had cancer before, decided to have a preventive double mastectomy because she has a BRCA1 gene mutation, which puts her at increased risk (87%) of developing breast cancer. And, in 2015, she had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to reduce her risk of developing ovarian cancer, the disease that killed her mother at the age of just 56.
During that time, there were only two genes that were usually tested for cancer risk in an individual – BRCA1 and BRCA2.