No one likes to think about cancer, and you hope it won’t happen to you. But the fact is, half of all men and one-third of all women will get cancer in their lifetime. The numbers are particularly staggering in the Jewish community. Ashkenazi Jewish men and women face a 10 times greater risk of carrying mutations in their BRCA genes. This increases their risk for breast, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate cancers. The good news is that many of these cancers can be prevented if a person’s genetic risk is known.
JScreen, the national Atlanta-based genetic screening and education organization, has developed a new screening option called the CancerGEN test. This state-of-the-art test analyzes the BRCA genes along with over 60 other cancer-susceptibility genes to determine genetic risk for different types of cancer. This way, if testing shows a mutation in a cancer gene, action can be taken to help prevent cancer.
As always, JScreen’s ReproGEN test (for diseases like Tay-Sachs, cystic fibrosis and over 200 others) is available to those who are planning to start or expand their families. Both tests are done on saliva from the comfort of home, and telehealth genetic counseling is included.
Thanks to a Propel Grant from Jewish Federation Innovation and NextGen divisions, Atlanta residents can now get $100 off the already low JScreen program fee by entering the code ScreenATL at the JScreen.org checkout page. Go to JScreen.org to register for your test kit(s) or to order for loved ones.
