HEALTH & FITNESS
genetics I on the cover
ifesaving
Take the time to test
for genetic cancer,
survivor urges.
Judith Doner Berne
Special to the Jewish News
*Ws
y sister saved my life," said Lisa Siegmann,
as she recovers from separate surgeries to
remove her ovaries and breasts over the
past three months.
They are operations Siegmann elected to have after
she tested positive last fall for a genetic mutation that
often leads to breast and/or ovarian cancer in one of 40
Ashkenazi Jews.
It was her sister, a Toronto resident, who first learned
that their family was susceptible to the BRCA1 gene,
when she volunteered for a Canadian-based study of
Jewish women of Eastern European descent and found
out that she was BRCA1 positive.
The genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, can be detected
through a series of tests, developed and patented by
Myriad Genetic Laboratories Inc. in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Multisite 3 BRACAnalysis is specifically geared to
individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.
"I never would have been tested. I didn't even know
to ask to be tested. I never heard of BRCA1." said
Siegmann, 44. an Oak Park wife and mother of a girl and
two boys, who knew of only two cases of any type of
cancer in her extended family.
She went to her Farmington Hills-based gynecologist, Dr.
Alvin Schoenberger, M.D., for the blood test and then wait-
ed two weeks to hear from the Myriad lab. The rest of her
family, all of whom live out of town, have since been tested.
"The reality is that three-fourths of me and my siblings
are positive," Siegmann said.
In addition to her sister, her older brother, who has two
sons, is positive.
"My younger brother — he has two girls — is negative;
we are all grateful for that," Siegmann said. And since the
gene doesn't skip a generation, it goes no further.
"Both my parents were tested to find out which side of
the family the mutation was on," Siegmann said. "My father
found out that he is the one carrying the gene. He was dev-
astated. He said 'that's not what I wanted for my legacy. —
Seeking Confirmation
Siegmann got more than a second opinion, meeting with
14 different specialists. All were incredibly helpful, she
says. and each gave her the same advice — oophorec-
tomy (preventive removal of the ovaries) and bilateral
mastectomy.
"After reading everything I could get my hands on and
talking to everyone I knew, I made a decision to go along
with both surgeries." she said.
Lisa Siegmann wants to share her story to spread the word about testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
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