Decisions and ethical issues among BRCA carriers and the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis  OVARIAN CANCER 

Minerva Medica 2009 October;100(5):371-83

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Decisions and ethical issues among BRCA carriers and the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis

Quinn G. P. ^{1, 2}, Vadaparampil S. T. ^{1, 2}, Bower B. ¹, Friedman S. ³, Keefe D. L. ⁴ ✉

¹ Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Tampa, FL, USA; ² University of South Florida College of Medicine, Department of Oncologic Science, Tampa, FL, USA; ³ FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered, Tampa, FL, USA; ⁴ University of South Florida, College of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tampa, FL, USA

The lifetime risks for both breast and ovarian cancer for BRCA mutation carriers far exceeds the general population risk of 13% for breast cancer and 1.4% for ovarian cancer. BRCA carriers have unique and medically complicated decisions to make regarding their cancer treatment or risk reduction. As BRCA testing becomes increasingly common among unaffected individuals in families with a previously documented BRCA mutation, there are a growing number of individuals with unique psychosocial needs and concerns. This review paper describes the BRCA 1/2 population, discusses preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), and describes the decisions and ethical issues related to PGD among the BRCA 1/ 2 population.