A woman has just been diagnosed with breast cancer. Her doctor tells her that while cancer is a multifactorial disease, she carries the breast cancer susceptibility gene, BRCA1. One of her two identical twin 19-year-old daughters is afraid that she also may have inherited the gene (Chapter 4, Learning Objective 2, 3, 8).
1. What considerations would you give her daughter who is worried about inheriting the cancer gene?
2. What ethical issues are raised when one identical twin wants to know her genetic susceptibility to a disease and other does not?
