Has anyone had or heard of a genetic test you can have to see if you will get breast cancer ?

If so how much does it cost and is it really fool proof ?

Genetic testing will only tell you if you carry one of the genes that gives you an increased risk of getting breast cancer. In other words, you could have the gene and still not develop cancer or you could not have the gene and still develop cancer. So, no, it's not really fool proof.

Full Sequencing looks for thousands of gene changes in the DNA of two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2. This test is appropriate when you are the first person in your family to test and you're not Ashkenazi Jewish.

Multisite Testing looks for the three specific gene changes that are associated with the majority of cases of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer in people with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.

Single Site Testing can be done when a specific BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene change has been identified in your family, and you know what this gene change is.

The cost of the tests vary, depending on which one you select.

DNA Direct helps the consumer directly, without going through the physician. There are pluses and minuses to this approach.

http://www.nci.nih.gov/cancerinfo/preven...

1-800-4-CANCER

Good Luck!!!!

There is a test for a gene which predisposes one to breast cancer. There are actually a couple of such genes that have been discovered to date, they are called something like BRCA 1 and 2.

I don't know how much it costs, some hundreds of dollars for sure. In some cases insurance companies will pay. I think that the test is fairly accurate, but some people without the gene will get breast cancer and quite possibly some people with the gene will not.

There is a simple blood test that can determine if you have a gene that causes breast cancer. I don't know the exact accuracy, but it is used quite frequently for those who have a strong family history of breast cancer.

u r the 1st i heard it from let me know what u find out

BRCA 1 and 2 are the correct answers. Cost depends on area, and it does not mean that you will get cancer, just that you have the genetic mutation of the gene that is associated with those that have breast cancer.

Our family has been doing the whole genetic testing thing for breast cancer for 2 years now. Let me tell you it isnt a simple blood test and it isnt easy. They get your whole family involved and there is such a back up that we have been waiting 2 years for our results. It was free to us through the Canadian government as our family is part of a study.

What we will find out. If I have kids what are the chances that my kids might get cancer. It also changes how they treat cancer a bit by being more aggressive.

What you do not find out: If you will get it, who will get it and when you will get it.

To have the BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 gene mutation, or the "breast cancer gene" is NOT a guarantee that you will get breast cancer. To have the gene mutation gives one a propensity for the disease (as well as ovarian cancer, btw).

Don't bother with the cost for the test. You would know already if many women in your family had breast cancer. Not just one woman, but your mom, her mom, her sisters, your great-aunts, etc. Their doctors would encourage testing for the breast cancer gene mutation.

Also, what would you do with a positive test? Get a masectomy? Examine your breasts? So, examine more often.

Do NOT get a mammogram under 35 years old, UNLESS your mother or sister was diagnosed under 40 years old. Self examination finds more cancers in women under 40 than mammograms. You don't want to get cancer when you are in your 70s because of the "annual" mammograms you got when you were in your 30s.