The Significance Of Breast Cancer - 1022 Words

The Importance of Breast Cancer Breast cancer is a serious disease that takes place in the cells of the breast. It is detected in many things, such as finding a lump or a change in how the breast looks. It is important to know how breast cancer works and the many parts that contribute to the knowledge of the disease. Famous actress Angelina Jolie brought breast cancer into the spotlight when she decided to get a double mastectomy. In the article â€Å"The Angelina Effect† that came from Times magazine, she reveals her reasons for getting the surgery, which was received with much controversy and mixed opinions. In this following paper, the genes that contribute to breast cancer, genetic testing, breast cancer being passed down, and Angelina†¦show more content†¦It increases the risk of causing cancer in the cells. Tumor-suppressor genes makes sure that a cell does not stray away towards cancer. The protein from the tumor-suppressor gene keeps the cell division under control. When the gene gets mutate d, it is a huge problem because the cell is no longer protected. It will likely become cancerous. These mutations cause the cell to start dividing uncontrollably and therefore makes the risk of getting breast cancer much higher. The potential risk of getting breast cancer increases when the women of someone s family has it. It is thought that a 5 to 10 percentage of breast cancer forms can be passed down from the parent to the child (â€Å"Genetics,† 2016). This is due to certain genes in the body being anomalous. There are particular bits of chromosomes that actually do contribute to higher risk of breast cancer when these chromosomes are mutated. They are called single nucleotide polymorphisms, abbreviated as SNPs. If a mutated SNPs is associated with an anomalous BRAC1 gene, it brings the concern of developing the disease to very high. On the other hand, being a carrier of the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene does not mean someone will get it in their lifespan. The carrier genes are am biguous; and scientific inquiries on how these genes affect the body are still being observed. BRCA genetic testing is a blood test; checking for anything that is off about BRAC1 and BRAC2 genes using DNA from a blood sample