Dr. Kathy Miller: Hi, it's Dr. Kathy Miller from Indiana University, coming to you on May 14 to make certain that you did not miss the day's biggest news.
Dr. Kathy Miller: Now, I'm not referring to the IRS scandal or whether or not Congress will hold hearings about what really happened in Benghazi.
Dr. Kathy Miller: I want to make sure you saw the New York Times report by Angelina Jolie[1] herself, disclosing that she inherited a deleterious mutation of BRCA1 and thus has an increased risk for breast and ovary cancer.
Dr. Kathy Miller: And she made the choice in February to undergo bilateral prophylactic mastectomy.
Dr. Kathy Miller: Now, make no mistake here: This is only a report in the New York Times because it is Angelina Jolie.
Dr. Kathy Miller: But her genetic inheritance, the risks that it brings with it, and the choices that she faced -- increased surveillance, prevention, lifestyle changes that might decrease her risk, or the choice for prophylactic surgery
Dr. Kathy Miller (cont.): -- were not at all different from the choices that all of our patients with BRCA abnormalities face.
Dr. Kathy Miller: And her choice is her choice. It is the right choice for her, and we wish her well and good recovery and good health. But it doesn't inform the choices that our other patients should make.
Dr. Kathy Miller: It does remind us, though, to identify patients with family histories with young ages of diagnosis with suggestive pathology to make certain that those patients are offered testing and have the ability, if they choose, to have that genetic information.
Dr. Kathy Miller: That genetic information is not what is frightening to patients; it is the unknown and the risk that is frightening.
Dr. Kathy Miller: And with information comes the power to make those informed decisions and for our patients to envision a very different future for themselves than what they may have seen in their mothers, their sisters, their other female relatives.
Dr. Kathy Miller: And for that, bringing this information to light, we owe Angelina Jolie a great thank you. We wish her well and good recovery and good health. And I'll be back again soon to talk to you about ASCO.
