1 in 5 relatives of breast and ovarian cancer patients in Estonia carry dangerous cancer-linked genes, study shows

Article excerpt

In 2013, Angelina Jolie inspired a wave of testing for pathogenic variants of the gene BRCA1 by announcing that she carried a variant that left her at such high risk of breast cancer that she chose a preventive mastectomy. Many people with similar gene variants won't need risk-reducing surgery, but knowing if you carry a dangerous variant could be lifesaving.