- By Adrianne Alexander, RN, BSN, CBC
- Posted July 17, 2024
Expanding Your High-Risk Breast Program: Best Practices for Growth and Impact
One of the accomplishments I am most proud of is driving the creation of a successful high-risk breast program in a large community-based health system. I am often asked how we did it. For advice on getting started, check out the first blog in this series. If you have already implemented a high-risk breast program, congratulations! It’s time…
- By Adrianne Alexander, RN, BSN, CBC
- Posted June 20, 2024
From Vision to Reality: Best Practices for Building High-Risk Breast Programs
Breast cancer remains the number one most common cancer among women in the United States, and the number two leading cause of cancer deaths among women.1 Approximately 20% of all breast cancer cases are associated with a family history of breast cancer, and approximately 10% are hereditary (due to pathogenic variant or mutation in a gene).2,3…
- By Kristina O'Quinn
- Posted October 25, 2023
Off My Chest: How Negative Genetic Testing and a Supportive Community Helped Me Navigate Breast Cancer
In the fall of 2021, my eighteen-year-old child was making an appointment for an annual check-up, then handed me the phone and said, “Mom, don’t you need a check-up? Didn’t you miss your appointment last year because of COVID?” I had, in fact, missed my annual check-up and mammogram. A few days later, after the check-up and mammogram, I…
- By Meagan Farmer
- Posted October 18, 2023
Breast Cancer Awareness Month: CHEK2 with Petra Kleiblova and Zdenek Kleibl
Amby Genetics is proud to have worked with a large international team on clarifying the significance of CHEK2 variants. We connected with team leaders Dr. Petra Kleiblova and Dr. Zdenek Kleibl ahead of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They provided us with the following commentary on the importance of the recent publication, “ENIGMA CHEK2gether…
- By Jessica Grzybowski, MS, CGC
- Posted October 17, 2023
Understanding Gene-Disease Validity in Breast Cancer: The Power of Evidence
When it comes to understanding the genetic basis of diseases, evidence plays a crucial role. Gene-disease validity measures the strength of evidence associating pathogenic variants or changes in a gene to a genetic disease or syndrome. In the context of breast cancer, which affects approximately 1 in every 8 women, grasping gene-disease validity…
- By Meagan Farmer
- Posted September 27, 2023
Ambry Spotlight: BRCAResponder Amy Byer Shainman
Amy Byer Shainman, also known as BRCAResponder, is a patient advocate, author, and producer who provides support and education related to having a pathogenic variant in BRCA1/2 or other cancer predisposition genes. We connected with her ahead of National Previvor Day and Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Week. Amy’s sister was diagnosed…
- By Jaime Burguieres
- Posted September 29, 2022
An Attitude of Gratitude: Jaime Burguieres’ Previvor Cancer Journey Guided by Ambry Genetic Testing
When Jaime Burguieres was young, her 43-year-old maternal aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. Burguieres watched her vivacious aunt go through painful radiation and chemotherapy treatments that seemingly eradicated her cancer at the time. A few years later, her aunt was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in the breast, stomach, and hip,…
- By Emily Huebsch
- Posted September 27, 2022
A Different Kind of Patient: Emily Huebsch Empowers Herself and Others Against Breast Cancer
Previvor: A person who has not been diagnosed with cancer, but has survived the predisposition, or higher risk, due to certain genetic mutations.* Breast cancer. Spoken in hushed tones, these scary words are often compounded by the aftermath of breast cancer deaths, creating a stigma around discussing breast cancer in regular conversations. With…
- By Erin Danielle
- Posted June 4, 2018
Strength and Survivorship: Honoring National Cancer Survivor's Day
From the moment I was diagnosed with breast cancer I knew there was something bigger out there for me. I've always believed that. I trusted that my cancer journey would bring me just one step towards whatever that 'bigger' is in my life. I’m a 37 year-old single mom to an incredible, hockey-playing, boxing 10 year-old boy, and about three years…
- By Eve Mart
- Posted November 20, 2017
Genetic Testing May Have Changed Things for My Mom
*Editor's Note: In honor of Family History Day, which is on Thanksgiving, Eve Mart is sharing the story how hereditary cancer has shaped her relationship with her mother, and how genetic testing may have been able to help change the course of her mother's health. I often tell women “be your own best advocate”, and I truly mean it.…