Mother and daughter, both with hereditary cancer risk, share how they made different choices with guidance from MUSC Hollings Cancer Center

When Debbie Herman says that cancer runs in her family, she isn't exaggerating. Her mother was one of nine siblings, seven of whom had cancer. Herman's mother had breast cancer. An aunt had ovarian cancer. A couple of aunts had colon cancer. The uncles all had prostate cancer, and some cousins had breast cancer. So, it is perhaps not surprising to learn that the BRCA2 gene mutation runs in the family.Herman and her sister initially put off genetic testing when their mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, thankfully at an early stage.

"Her physicians suggested that we get tested. We elected not to, which was a mistake," Herman said. After her sister was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in 2016, Herman got tested. She and her daughter, Emily Huggins, M.D., learned they have the BRCA2 gene mutation. The National Cancer Institute reports that more than 60% of women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation will develop breast cancer, compared with 13% of women in the general population. Herman and Huggins say they want to encourage others to get tested so that they, too, can make informed choices about their health.

Read more about the women's decision making after they each learned they carried the BRCA2 gene, the treatments they chose, and how Kevin Hughes, M.D., Medical Director of the Hollings Hereditary Cancer Clinic, and Andrea Abbott, M.D., Medical Director of the HCC Comprehensive Breast Program, which has a high-risk breast clinic, helped guide their decisions.

And, since knowledge about cancer and cancer risk is constantly evolving as research adds to our scientific understanding, Huggins and Herman both regularly seeing their providers at the Hereditary Cancer Clinic, with the comfort of knowing that as guidelines are updated in response to research, they’ll be getting the latest evidence-based screenings and care.