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Mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are generally considered to be the cause of breast cancer in women. However, for men they are dangerous.
Every time Pete Passanisi fastened his seat belt in a car, he felt uncomfortable. Where the nylon strap on the left touched his chest, pain arose.
At first, he thought he was pulling a muscle. Or is it heartburn. But in the end, his relatives convinced him to carefully feel his chest, and he found several cones, small and hard, like pieces of candy.
In December 2011, Passanisi, then 66, underwent a biopsy at a local hospital in Lake St. Louis (Missouri, USA) and the day after Christmas learned that the bumps are oncology, the second stage of breast cancer.
He underwent a mastectomy (removal of a part of the chest), and a little later – lymphadenectomy (removal of the lymph nodes).
“The seat belt saved his life,” says Annie, Passanisi’s daughter.
A few months after the operation of her father, the 27-year-old woman found out that she herself was the carrier of the same mutated gene, which led to the development of cancer in Pete Passanisi.
Today, Annie undergoes regular examinations, including MRI and mammography. “If the gene shows up, she will know about it at an early stage,” says Pete.
Mutations in the BRCA2 gene significantly increase the risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.
The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are tumor suppressors; they are responsible for repairing damaged genes. When they stop doing it right, more and more errors occur in the DNA, which leads to cancer.
Copyright holder illustration Scott Barbour / Getty Images
Image caption
Traditionally, breast cancer awareness campaigns have targeted women (pictured here is Women’s Field, created in 2010 at a cricket stadium in Melbourne to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Network Australia charity)
The risk of mutations in the BRCA1 and 2 genes is the same for women and men, but men are 10 times less likely to be screened for this.
One reason is the general misconception that such genes are tantamount to breast cancer (and many men do not believe that they have breast tissue).
Of course, men have fewer such tissues than women, and, accordingly, the risk of developing breast cancer is lower, even if they have BRCA2.