May 14, 2013
Angelina Jolie’s revelation in the New York Times today that she had a double mastectomy after learning about her genetic risk for breast cancer focused attention on the difficult dilemma faced by many women in similar circumstances. Jolie said she decided to write about her case to help other women. "I [...]
February 12, 2013
We know from scientific research that, in general, people don’t freak out about the results they get from personal genetic testing. When the results show an increased risk for serious illness, how do they react? It turns out that even then, the news doesn’t trigger serious anxiety. Quite the contrary, [...]
December 20, 2012
Take a moment to look back at the ten most interesting and significant genetic findings of 2012 or at least the ones that drew our attention. In the last 12 months we’ve seen huge strides in genetic research giving us new insight into serious conditions such as Alzheimer’s as well as new treatments for [...]
August 7, 2012
In any big fight it helps to have someone in your corner and when it comes to breast cancer you want someone like Elyse Spatz Caplan and the people at Living Beyond Breast Cancer. Elyse, who herself was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer in 1991, oversees educational programming for Living Beyond [...]
August 6, 2012
Changes in DNA Underlie Cancer Cancer develops when normal cells in the body grow and reproduce uncontrollably because of “mistakes” in the DNA code. DNA (a copy of which is contained in each cell) contains finely tuned instructions for cell growth and production, but as cells copy and pass on this DNA [...]
August 2, 2012
Not all cancers are created equal. Ask anyone with metastatic breast cancer. For the 155,000 women in the United States living with this diagnosis, each day represents a constant fight against a cancer that has spread into other parts of their bodies — most often their bones, liver, lungs or brain. With [...]
August 1, 2012
Positive, helpful, and upbeat. These aren’t words you would expect to describe someone about to start another round of chemo treatment. However, in the case of Suzan Mickey, they are very apt. Mickey is a participant in the 23andMe and Genentech InVite study on bevacizumab (also known as Avastin®) and [...]
July 3, 2012
With Nick Eriksson Social norms and preferences aside, it turns out that breast size matters -- but not quite in the way you think. 23andMe’s latest research paper, published in the journal BMC Medical Genetics, shows that genetic factors influence whether women have double As or double Ds. This might [...]
May 21, 2012
23andMe is passionate about fighting cancer. We’re researching specific forms of cancer and treatments (see sidebar) and also learning more generally about cancer through our Cancer Family History survey (men’s version and women’s version). Personal experiences have the potential to fuel important [...]
May 18, 2012
Do You Have a Story? How have you been affected by breast cancer? Tell us your story and help all of us learn more about the disease. (To share your story, please leave a comment at the end of this post. 23andMe customers can also share their stories in our Breast Cancer Community Group.) Roughly [...]
