In the season premiere of actress’ Courteney Cox’s Facebook Watch Series “Nine Months With Courteney Cox,” she opens up about her experience discovering she had a MTHFR gene mutation. Not only does this mutation make pregnancy difficult, but it also increases risk of types of cancer â which is why genetic testing is crucial for everyone.
In her Facebook Watch stream, Cox, 55, revealed that she had suffered miscarriages in the past and four years ago discovered that it was due to MTHFR gene mutation. According to a study from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), this gene mutation also increases the risk of breast cancer as well as ovarian cancer. Additionally, Cox’s father, Richard Lewis Cox, passed away after battling cancer in 2001.
Read MoreThe Importance Of Genetic Testing To Detect Cancer Risk
For many people, genetic testing is a crucial step in understanding whether you’re more or less at risk for a cancer diagnosis. Some specific gene mutations are directly linked to types of cancers, and by going through genetic testing, doctors will be able to identify these mutations in people. This is especially the case when it comes to ovarian cancer, which is linked to BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 gene defects.Dr. Kellie Schneider explains why genetic testing is important to detect ovarian cancer
"Genetic testing is important for several different reasons," Dr. Kellie Schneider, a gynecologic oncologist at Novant Health in Charlotte, North Carolina, tells SurvivorNet. "Ovarian cancer is a relatively rare cancer so when we see it in a patient we worry there's something that put them genetically at risk for that cancer. We would want to know for their sake and their family's sake if we need to be screening for any additional cancers once they are in remission from their ovarian cancer."
Genetic testing cannot only help a possible patient, but also their family members. Breast cancer survivor Amy Armstrong talked to SurvivorNet about why she got genetically tested for stomach cancer, which runs in her family.
"[My mom] uncovered that she had a very rare stomach cancer gene called CDH1," Amy said. "If you have this gene, not only is it incredibly rare, but you're also confronted [with] making a pretty big decision to avoid getting stomach cancer. You have to have a prophylactic gastrectomy. When my mom found out that she had the gene, it had a domino effect for not only her siblings to be tested for the gene, but also her children and 3 out of 4 of us, my siblings, tested positive for the gene."
According to Armstrong, CDH1 is a dominant gene so there's a 50/50 chance of passing it on to a child. In order to avoid passing this gene to her family, she underwent a prophylactic gastrectomy (stomach removal) to reduce her chance of getting cancer.
Breast cancer survivor Amy Armstrong shares why she went through genetic testing
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