BRCA Mutations and Pancreatic Cancer

Let’s Win and the National Alliance for Hispanic Health’s Nuestras Voces program have teamed up for a series of hour-long Let’s Learn webinars to help you understand more about pancreatic cancer.

Our first webinar, BRCA Mutations and Pancreatic Cancer, was held Wednesday, October 11th. We are joined by the Basser Center for BRCA to learn more about inherited risks for pancreatic cancer. The webinar features medical oncologist Dr. Kim A. Reiss, genetic counselor Joanna Mercado, and BRCA advocate Steve Nelson discussing family history and genetic risk. The moderator is Alejandra Campoverdi, founder of the Latinos and BRCA, an initiative of the Basser Center for BRCA.

About 64,000 people are found to have pancreatic cancer each year in the U.S., with a slightly higher rate of occurrence in Black Americans. The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is about 12 percent, in part because the disease is often diagnosed at an advanced stage.

About 10 percent of pancreatic cancer cases are hereditary—two or more family members have had the disease. In between 10 and 20 percent of those cases there is an identified genetic mutation associated with the cancer. BRCA mutations are the most common of these. However, there are many families with a history of pancreatic cancer and no identified mutation.

This is why family medical history and knowledge of genetic mutations is so important. With this information people at risk can undergo regular screening for pancreatic cancer, increasing their chance of an earlier diagnosis, which leads to more treatment options and a better survival rate.

Watch the webinar above and download the presentation.

Why is a family medical history important?

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