Private MD News

Filmmaker to talk about genetic testing

Category: DNA, Paternity and Genetic testing

To know or not to know?

That was the question filmmaker Joanna Rudnick explored in her documentary In the Family, which chronicled her mental process after finding out she tested positive for hereditary breast cancer at the age of 27.

Rudnick will be visiting the University of Virginia to speak about the controversial issue of getting a genetic test to see if one is more likely to develop cancer.

"You know the numbers. It's 85to 90 percent likely you'll develop breast cancer and 50 to 60 percent chance for ovarian," says one of Rudnick's doctors in the film.

The film also follows other women, like Rudnick, who are more at risk for breast cancer because their mother or relative had the disease. For the then 31-year-old, the filmmaker struggled with the decision to have preventative surgery to avoid developing the conditions by having a hysterectomy and mastectomy.

A genetic test for breast cancer determines if a person has a mutation of the BRCA gene, which brings with it an 85 percent change of developing breast cancer.

Some women have found that knowing about their status through a lab test has helped them come to terms with their disease.