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Last year, Geralyn Hansford and her sister, Lynn, sat in an office, ready to face their genetic destinies together.

Ms. Hansford, a 47-year-old mother of two grown daughters, received her test results first.

"You are a carrier," the genetic counsellor said.

At that devastating news, "all of us looked at each other," Ms. Hansford recalled from her home in Newfoundland.

"And then I said, 'Okay, what about Lynn?' "

Lynn emerged on the winning side of the genetic lottery: She did not carry the mutant gene that would probably lead to a deadly form of stomach cancer that had already killed their youngest sister, Arleen, at the age of 40.

Ms. Hansford did not waste time mourning her fate. "I just said, 'I want to make an appointment immediately with a surgeon.' "

For years, women have been having their breasts removed after learning that they carry the so-called breast-cancer genes - mutated BRCA1 and BRCA2.

Now, people such as Ms. Hansford are choosing the same preventive extreme - and are having their stomachs removed.

As scientists discover more and more genes linked to deadly diseases, patients are being offered this terrible choice: remove an organ affected by that mutant gene, or face a high risk of developing a disease with no known cure.

"Unfortunately these cancers are very sneaky, so there's nothing to help us see them at the early stages," says David Huntsman, a genetic pathologist who heads a research team at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver.

The lack of treatment options and early screening procedures are forcing patients to make tough choices, Dr. Huntsman says.

"But what we're hoping is that for the children of people like Geralyn, there will be something else ... that can be offered."

Now, using a $759,000 research grant awarded yesterday by the Canadian Cancer Society, he and his team hope to discover new screening procedures that would detect the cancer earlier - and save carriers of the mutant gene from removing their stomachs as a preventive measure.

The B.C. researchers have discovered a mutation in a gene called CDH1. Of those who carry the mutated gene, 70 per cent develop gastric cancer. The cancer is extremely difficult to diagnose and is lethal by the time it is advanced enough to be detected.

Their studies focus on Newfoundland, where the rate of stomach cancer is almost two times higher than in the rest of Canada. Researchers believe - but aren't yet certain - that the connection may be the hereditary genetic mutation. At least 80 families carry the gene worldwide, and one of the largest - with an extended pedigree of more than 650 people - is based in Newfoundland, Dr. Huntsman says.

"I think they're all related to me," Ms. Hansford says with a dry laugh.

Since 2002, when Ms. Hansford's sister, Arleen, died from gastric cancer, doctors have found the mutant CDH1 gene in Ms. Hansford, her older brother, Glen, and their mother, who also tested positive for the cancer. Each decided to have their stomachs removed, along with a half-dozen other relatives who have also tested positive.

Dr. Huntsman and his international collaborators also believe that the gene mutation may lead to lobular breast cancer, which also seems to plague families with higher incidences of gastric cancer. Lobular breast cancer accounts for 8 to 15 per cent of all breast cancers.

Ms. Hansford now eats six or seven small meals a day, and no sugar, because it leaves her feeling exhausted. She gets a monthly B12 injection, because she has no stomach to produce the vitamin. She has lost 60 pounds in the year since her surgery.

"I would kid myself to say that my life hasn't changed," she says. "[But] I know I made the right decision. It's an absolute weight off my shoulders."