Fear and money!
On May 14th the New York Times published an article on Angelina Jolie’s recent breast surgery. Having discovered that she was a carrier of the BRCA1 gene, the actress decided to remove both of her breasts as a preventative measure, and later told the press that a preventative double mastectomy and a breast implant reconstruction was the only responsible choice available. With the surgery being a success, Angelina Jolie declared that she wanted her experience to be an example and benefit other women carrying the same gene. Her courage was universally praised by the well-meaning press.
For my part, I found both the article and the advocated approach remarkably lacking in scientific rigor. Her doctors stated that the actress was at a 87% risk of developing breast cancer, and 50% risk of developing ovarian cancer, however also that these risks are different for every woman – in itself this is a contradiction and therefore meaningless. This is not a scientific approach, just a way to instill fear in healthy women to make them increasingly resort to unneeded surgery.
In addition, it is worth remembering that only a few years ago we faced a scandal over silicone breast implants inducing breast cancer. I am not sure that silicone implants that could potentially cause cancer is a very good idea for women that are already prone for developing this type of cancer in the first place.
On May 14th I however chose not to comment on the case as I had the feeling that there was more to this case than just Angelina Jolie sharing her experience with the world.
And I was right! The breasts of the beautiful actress were in fact a pretext for Myriad Genetics to start with a campaign of media publicity for a test called BRCAnalysis, which costs around $3300. Indeed, the company, Myriad Genetics, had quietly patented the modified BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes during this time, and would benefit from the fear of all the women carriers of this gene. The patent was in fact drafted in such a way that it would give Myriad Genetics a legal monopoly on screening of women worldwide. And in the wake of Angelina Jolie’s announcement, many women were ready to perform the test. First create fear and demand. After, sell the tests and implants…. Brilliant!
Unfortunately for Myriad Genetics, their plans were foiled at the very last minute by the Supreme Court’s June 13thruling stating that a company cannot patent fragments of the human genome, including segments of isolated genes. With this decision, Myriad Genetics has lost its monopoly on the production and marketing of the test. In other words: in the near future many other companies will also have an interest in stirring up fear of breast cancer to encourage them to get tested, but no company will invest in the marketing of the test as much as if they held a monopoly.
In the midst of this, it is worth remembering that Beljanski’s work showed precisely how our environment can either promote or inhibit the expression of certain genes. I believe that choosing a good environment by using products with minimal amounts of toxins, eating healthy and taking appropriate supplements daily seems to be a more reasonable option then the surgical approach… even if Brad Pitt was there to hold my hand throughout the operation!