Positive Results ─ Making the Best Decisions When You're at High Risk for Breast or Ovarian Cancer

Morris, an attorney who is associated with the organization Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered, and Gordon, (medicine, UCLA), who is involved in the genetics and ovarian and breast cancer screening programs at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, provide a guide for women at high risk for breast and ovarian cancer due to family history and genetic profile that helps them decide if they want to pursue genetic testing, as well as how to interpret test results and make decisions to manage their risks. They address medical options like cancer surveillance, assessing risk, mastectomy and breast reconstruction, surgery, managing menopause, and cancer risks in men who carry mutations on BRCA genes, as well as issues relating to children. Morris, who found out she had the BRCA2 mutation and decided on bilateral mastectomies, also relates her story and that of others who have been faced with these decisions. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Joi L. Morris (Santa Monica, CA) practiced law in Los Angeles for thirteen years. She is now outreach coordinator for FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered). She speaks often at cancer centers and community events to educate and inform women about the risks of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.

Ora Karp Gordon, MD, MS (Tarzana, CA) is director of the GenRISK Adult Genetics Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, the largest clinical adult genetics program on the West Coast. She is also codirector of the Cedars-Sinai Gilda Radner Ovarian and Breast Cancer Screening Program for high-risk women and associate professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.