Eleven members of a Los Angeles family have no stomachs. The elected to have them removed to eliminate the possibility of developing a rare hereditary stomach cancer that runs in their family. From the Associated Press:
"Rather than live in fear, they tackled their genetic destiny head-on," said Dr. David Huntsman of the University of British Columbia, who found the gene mutation in the family…
The CDH1 gene mutation was first discovered in 1998 in a large New Zealand family with a history of stomach cancer. Those with the mutation have a 70 percent risk of stomach cancer.
It killed Golda Bradfield in 1960. She passed the faulty gene to seven of her children. Six died of the disease in their 40s and 50s.
The grandchildren learned of the defective gene after one of them, David Allen, died of stomach cancer in 2003…
Soon after, the remaining 17 got tested. Eleven who had the bad gene had surgery.
"I wake up every morning and think, 'This is a free day. I get a bonus today,"' said 52-year-old (Mike Slabaugh)…
While the stomachs of all six Stanford patients looked normal before surgery, a study of the tissue revealed early tumor growths, said Dr. Jeff Norton, the surgeon.
