Women who carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene should start receiving early mammograms as early as age 25, according to a researchers at the Women’s Health Care Center at the University of Washington. The March 25th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association contains the results of a study which reiterates that the BRCA genes cause five to ten percent of all breast cancer cases and that women who carry the genes should begin having yearly mammograms between the ages of 25 and 35. Women with a flawed BRCA1 gene have a 65 percent risk of contracting ovarian cancer and an 85 percent risk of breast cancer. Women with the BRCA2 mutation have a 55 percent risk of ovarian cancer and 85 percent risk of breast cancer. The American Cancer Society projects that doctors will diagnose 180,200 women with breast cancer this year.
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