Six sisters and their mum have a little known cancer gene

It’s a little known cancer gene that has devastated a family with six sisters and their mum affected.

EXCLUSIVE

Beneath the exuberant veneer of this wedding photograph lies a potentially-deadly family secret.

Eileen Kerr and six of her seven daughters carry the little known breast cancer gene, PALB2, which can increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer by five to nine times.

In the next Kerr generation, there are 20 children impacted — 15 girls and five boys — ranging in age from four to 28 years.

The family, from Wollongong, south of Sydney, discovered they carried the genetic problem just as the June Covid lockdown began.

Seven relatives have either had or are now considering radical mastectomies.

“It’s like a freight train just hit our whole family,” said Jane Kerr, who tested positive for the gene mutation and is urging other women to get checked.

Sisters Cathy and Fiona Kerr. Picture: Supplied

Her two sisters Cathy, 48, and Fiona, 47, developed breast cancer — Cathy’s has now returned nine years after her first diagnosis in the more aggressive form.

Cathy said if she or her sister Fiona had originally been tested for PALB2 she would have had a preventive mastectomy and avoided her second cancer diagnosis.

“I want other women (with familial cancer) who have had BRCA genetic

testing but not PALB2 testing, to revisit this with their genetic counsellor. If there is a

PALB2 gene fault they would then have the choice and the power to do something about it”

Adding to her blow, recent Covid pressure on the health system saw Cathy’s lifesaving double mastectomy and reconstruction surgery cancelled twice in the public hospital.

They only way the uninsured special education teacher could get a reconstruction at the same time as her cancer was removed was to pay $50,000 for surgery in a private hospital.

Two of her sisters are also facing out of pocket expenses of $20,000 each for their preventive surgery in the private system, because their health funds don’t cover the full cost.

There is a 12 to 18 month wait in the public system.

Younger family members have been discouraged from having their genetic tests now because pathology labs have been overwhelmed dealing with Covid diagnoses.

Breast Cancer Network Australia CEO Kirsten Pilatti Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Breast Cancer Network Australia’s CEO Kirsten Pilatti said “there should be no reason why any Australian person is forced into the private setting because of Covid”.

The support group’s recent survey found one in five women undergoing breast reconstruction privately had cost out-of-pocket costs of more than $10,000.

“No one should be needing to mortgage their house to take out superannuation for life saving preventive cancer care, and we need to take a very long hard look at ourselves, if that’s the system were setting up,” Ms Pilatti said.

Women who have the faulty PALB2 gene have a 55 per cent chance of developing breast cancer compared to 12-14 per cent for the rest of the population.

They also have a 5 per cent chance of developing ovarian cancer.

Men and women with the fault have a 3 per cent chance of pancreatic cancer and men a 1 per cent chance of breast cancer.

Oncologist Yoland Antill said the risk changes with age and women aged up to 40 years who carry the mutation have a risk of breast cancer that is eight to nine times higher than the general population.

Women aged 60 years with the mutation have a risk of breast cancer that is five times higher than the general population.

Women with the faulty gene have a range of options including yearly breast screening to detect any cancer early, using a medicine like tamoxifen to reduce their risk of cancer, they can also consider a double mastectomy.