The final gift Catriona Remocker’s father gave her was discovered by a lab in a vial of his blood.
Dr. Geoffrey Remocker died of Stage IV prostate cancer in 2016, just two weeks after testing confirmed he was a carrier for genetic mutations that increase the likelihood of developing ovarian, breast, prostate and pancreatic cancers.
These hereditary BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations are ten times more common among both men and women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, like Remocker and her father, than non-Jewish people.
About one in 40 individuals with Ashkenazi heritage carry the mutations, according to the U.S. Centre for Disease Control, which increase the likelihood of women developing ovarian cancer, for example, from one per cent to 30 per cent before age 70.
Both men and women are at risk, though most people know only of their links to breast and ovarian cancer.
“It’s not guaranteed that you will develop cancer, but there may be a mutation in a gene that is associated with cancer that puts you at the higher risk,” said Dr. Sophie Sun, co-director of B.C. Cancer’s Hereditary Cancer program.
The increased risk is likely because founding members of the Ashkenazi Jewish community, in Central and Eastern Europe, had such mutations and then reproduced in relative isolation.
B.C. woman says screening for genetic mutation linked to cancer likely saved her life
Catriona Remocker and her mother, Jane Remocker, are working to expand awareness and genetic screening for Ashkenazi Jewish people at higher risks of certain cancers in B.C.
But without a family history of cancer, Remocker says she was “shocked and surprised” to find out her father was a carrier, and later, that she carries the mutation as well.
“We didn’t know that as people with Jewish heritage we were at increased risk,” said Remocker, who co-founded non-profit BRCA in BC with her mother, Jane Remocker.
The Remockers are now teaming up with B.C. Cancer’s Hereditary Cancer program to expand genetic testing for Jewish people in B.C. to save them the same shock and pain.
Ashkenazi Jewish people in B.C. qualify for free genetic testing if they have a history of cancer in their families, Sun said.
But due to genocide during the Holocaust and displacement, many people don’t know they have such heritage or that their risk of certain cancers, among both men and women, are heightened.
Catriona Remocker, left, is seen with her mother Jane. She says she was unaware that she was at higher risk of cancer. (Janella Hamilton/CBC)
An imminent pilot project, largely funded by Vancouver’s Diamond Foundation, will study the prevalence of the BRCA mutations among Ashkenazi Jewish peoples in B.C. and aims to offer free, voluntary genetic testing to everyone with that heritage, regardless of family cancer history.
Early detection of the mutations when one is young and healthy can help avoid invasive treatments if cancer does develop and thereby save lives, said Sun.
“Some of these cancers are potentially preventable,” she said.
Catriona Remocker says knowing she carried the BRCA mutations helped her take control of her cancer risk in a proactive way. (Submitted by Catriona Remocker)
Empowerment through early detection
Knowing she carried the gene allowed Remocker, now 39, to qualify for regular scans and take measures to reduce her risk of developing cancer, including a mastectomy to remove her breast tissue before the recommended age of 40.
“I’m a lot more empowered and I have a lot more tools to deal with it and to do something about my risk,” said Remocker. “It was really hard watching my dad go through what he went through and that’s certainly not something I want for myself.”
Sun says people should get as familiar with their family histories as possible, and speak to a doctor or visit the Hereditary Cancer program website to see if they are eligible for free testing.
But raising awareness among the Jewish community in B.C. is difficult, said Remocker. There are only around 35,000 Jewish people in B.C, according to a 2019 estimate from the Jewish Federations of North America, and Remocker says they are more “fragmented” than in other cities with more established Jewish communities and dedicated hospitals.
Remocker hopes spreading the word will ensure others can make the decision to get tested for the mutations without having to lose a loved one.
She said that it was “really important that we start to develop more of a voice for Jewish people in the province around these health issues.”
Some Ontario doctors have started offering a free shot that can protect babies from respiratory syncytial virus while Quebec will begin its immunization program next month.
The new shot called Nirsevimab gives babies antibodies that provide passive immunity to RSV, a major cause of serious lower respiratory tract infections for infants and seniors, which can cause bronchiolitis or pneumonia.
Ontario’s ministry of health says the shot is already available at some doctor’s offices in Ontario with the province’s remaining supply set to arrive by the end of the month.
Quebec will begin administering the shots on Nov. 4 to babies born in hospitals and delivery centers.
Parents in Quebec with babies under six months or those who are older but more vulnerable to infection can also book immunization appointments online.
The injection will be available in Nunavut and Yukon this fall and winter, though administration start dates have not yet been announced.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
-With files from Nicole Ireland
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Polio cases are rising ahead of a new vaccination campaign in Pakistan, where violence targeting health workers and the police protecting them has hampered years of efforts toward making the country polio-free.
Since January, health officials have confirmed 39 new polio cases in Pakistan, compared to only six last year, said Anwarul Haq of the National Emergency Operation Center for Polio Eradication.
The new nationwide drive starts Oct. 28 with the aim to vaccinate at least 32 million children. “The whole purpose of these campaigns is to achieve the target of making Pakistan a polio-free state,” he said.
Pakistan regularly launches campaigns against polio despite attacks on the workers and police assigned to the inoculation drives. Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
Most of the new polio cases were reported in the southwestern Balochistan and southern Sindh province, following by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and eastern Punjab province.
The locations are worrying authorities since previous cases were from the restive northwest bordering Afghanistan, where the Taliban government in September suddenly stopped a door-to-door vaccination campaign.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are the two countries in which the spread of the potentially fatal, paralyzing disease has never been stopped. Authorities in Pakistan have said that the Taliban’s decision will have major repercussions beyond the Afghan border, as people from both sides frequently travel to each other’s country.
The World Health Organization has confirmed 18 polio cases in Afghanistan this year, all but two in the south of the country. That’s up from six cases in 2023. Afghanistan used a house-to-house vaccination strategy this June for the first time in five years, a tactic that helped to reach the majority of children targeted, according to WHO.
Health officials in Pakistan say they want the both sides to conduct anti-polio drives simultaneously.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of people with private health insurance would be able to pick up over-the-counter methods like condoms, the “morning after” pill and birth control pills for free under a new rule the White House proposed on Monday.
Right now, health insurers must cover the cost of prescribed contraception, including prescription birth control or even condoms that doctors have issued a prescription for. But the new rule would expand that coverage, allowing millions of people on private health insurance to pick up free condoms, birth control pills, or “morning after” pills from local storefronts without a prescription.
The proposal comes days before Election Day, as Vice President Kamala Harris affixes her presidential campaign to a promise of expanding women’s health care access in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to undo nationwide abortion rights two years ago. Harris has sought to craft a distinct contrast from her Republican challenger, Donald Trump, who appointed some of the judges who issued that ruling.
“The proposed rule we announce today would expand access to birth control at no additional cost for millions of consumers,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “Bottom line: women should have control over their personal health care decisions. And issuers and providers have an obligation to comply with the law.”
The emergency contraceptives that people on private insurance would be able to access without costs include levonorgestrel, a pill that needs to be taken immediately after sex to prevent pregnancy and is more commonly known by the brand name “Plan B.”
Without a doctor’s prescription, women may pay as much as $50 for a pack of the pills. And women who delay buying the medication in order to get a doctor’s prescription could jeopardize the pill’s effectiveness, since it is most likely to prevent a pregnancy within 72 hours after sex.
If implemented, the new rule would also require insurers to fully bear the cost of the once-a-day Opill, a new over-the-counter birth control pill that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved last year. A one-month supply of the pills costs $20.
Federal mandates for private health insurance to cover contraceptive care were first introduced with the Affordable Care Act, which required plans to pick up the cost of FDA-approved birth control that had been prescribed by a doctor as a preventative service.
The proposed rule would not impact those on Medicaid, the insurance program for the poorest Americans. States are largely left to design their own rules around Medicaid coverage for contraception, and few cover over-the-counter methods like Plan B or condoms.
