Happy anniversary Positive Results!

Today is the one year anniversary of the release of Positive Results!

A lot has happened in the the past year and we would like to take this opportunity to give both a quick review of the highlights of the year and to say a heartfelt thank you to all who have supported us, all who have purchased Positive Results, all who have recommended it to their friends and doctors, all who have sent us emails of appreciation, all who have written reviews, and all who have joined us on Facebook and on this blog.

Highlights from the past year include several studies that assess the risk of breast cancer after prophylactic mastectomy in BRCA-positive women, including:

• A March 2010 study in the Annals of Surgery, which concludes that prophylactic mastectomy "is highly effective in preventing invasive breast cancer in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. Since the remaining risk is less than 0.2%/woman-year, continued surveillance of the asymptomatic carriers is not warranted."
• In contrast to this finding was a Danish study published in January 2011 the journal Clinical Genetics, which finds that post mastectomy breast cancer risk in BRCA carriers might be higher than previously thought and further surveillance of carriers after mastectomy might be needed.  We blogged about this study here.
• However, the largest study to date, published in September in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that prophylactic mastectomy was highly effective at reducing future breast cancer risk and in fact none of the women in this study who had prophylactic mastectomies went on to develop breast cancer.  We blogged about this study here and here and in fact our September 1, 2010 blog about this study remains our most popular blog post ever.

Other highlights from this past year include:

• April 2010: 
• Library Journal published a glowing review of Positive Results concluding: "VERDICT Morris's story and that of other women and men highlight the difficult choices involved. Full of practical advice, this book will be a boon to those at risk for breast cancer as well as their caregivers."
• San Francisco Book Review published a review that concluded: "Women with breast or ovarian cancer, their doctors and caregivers, and each and every single one of their family and friends — should all read this book."
  
• April 2010: A study about risk reducing bilateral salpino oophorectomy was published in the journal Gynecologic Oncology, which found this procedure may frequently leave behind small amounts of fallopian tube tissue, although what that means for future fallopian tube/ovarian cancer risk is unclear.  We blogged about this study here.
  
• June 2010: Dr. Gordon spoke at a session at the 5th Annual Joining FORCEs Conference.
  
• August 2010: Joi had surgery to remove her ovaries and her post Adios Ovaries remains one of our most popular posts.  She has done seven posts about her surgery, recovery and surgical menopause to share her story with others.
  
• September 2010: The creation of National Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Week and National Previvor Day.
  
• October 2010: 
• Dr. Gordon appeared on CNN in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness month.
• Dr. Gordon spoke about genetic discrimination at the 10th Annual Women's Health Conference in Pasadena, California.
• February 2011: Ms. Magazine published an article by Joi about genetic testing on their Ms. Magazine Blog.

In addition, a number of studies have been published about hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer risk.  None of these studies, however, have been in BRCA-positive women and therefore have done little to advance the knowledge base for managing surgical menopause and breast cancer risk for these women.

We look forward to sharing another eventful year with you.

Joi & Ora