Today program life The Way contributor Jill Martin has revealed she has breast cancer and urged viewers to get genetic testing to detect early-stage cancer.
“I’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer. It feels like someone else is telling the story. Six weeks ago, it all happened really fast,” Martin, Monday Emotionally speaking during an appearance on NBC News morning show.
She said she received her diagnosis six weeks after a scan for preventive surgery because of breast cancer in her family. But after undergoing genetic testing for the BRCA gene, which is associated with a higher risk of breast cancer, and any mutations, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“That test saved my life. If I hadn’t had the test, I wouldn’t have had the scan and we would have told a whole different story,” Martin told co-stars Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb , the latter before Has talked about her own breast cancer diagnosis and surgery.
“So I’m very grateful to be here, to be able to talk to your doctor,” Martin added.
Standing by Martin’s side is Dr. Elisa Port, chief breast cancer surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, told the TODAY audience that while mammograms remain key to detecting breast cancer and saving lives, they Not perfect, genetic testing for BRCA genes and other mutations can also prevent early cancer detection, especially in high-risk patients.
Martin is keen to contribute to Audience conveys that BRCA genes are not limited to women, men should also have genetic testing for BRCA genes and possible mutations.”Let me be clear: My mother had breast cancer. Her BRCA gene test was negative. They said, has your father been tested? Breast cancer, I said, did not run in my father’s family. They said to get tested anyway. explains Martin.
She did get tested and both she and her father tested positive for the BRCA gene. disease, and a lot of the people I talked to said they didn’t know that men should be tested,” Martin added, adding that men are also at risk of developing certain cancers due to BRCA gene mutations. .
Martin said she will soon undergo preventive surgery that will drastically reduce the chance of the cancer returning to 1%.
