1% of women in the general population actually less than half a percent would carry a mutation in brca 1 or 2. >> the women who do get diagnosed, only 5% to 10% of them have the gene. >> at most. recent data suggests 3% to 5%. >> what is a woman to take from this? you hear the announcement from angelina jolie. you worry about breast cancer. for whatever reason. who should be tested? >> the vast majority of women are not going to carry a mutation in brc 1 or 2. we look for clues in the family history. that would be multiple cases of breast cancer in the family. earlier age of onset. ovarian cancer in the family as well. a woman who's had both breasts and ovarian cancer is a strong indicator. also male breast cancer. and oshkinazi jewish ancestry. 1 in 40 women of that ancestry carry this gene. >> i shared earlier my own mother is a breast cancer survivor. >> mm-hmm. >> my mother. now i have three daughters. again, a lot of people were asking this in their family trees. what would you counsel my family, for example. >> it would depend on the age your mother was diagnosed with breast canc

i don't know if i have the brca gene.o have genetic testing, not because it runs in my family because at the end of the day i have a lot of girls in my family. and i figure it starts somewhere. and elizabeth cohen is absolutely right. it's a genetic counselor that you sit with, and it goes over this entire history with you so that you can make this major decision as to whether or not you even want to do this. but it's an expensive test. and one of the things that angelina jolie, if elizabeth is still there, one of the things that she talked about is it's an incredibly expensive test and it's not always paid for by an insurance company. so what is the option for women if, in fact, it doesn't get paid for by an insurance company if you know that you do carry this gene, elizabeth? >> right. one of the options is that you can apply to the company that makes the gene and ask them for help. and they have helped many, many women, you know, sometimes giving you free or giving subsidies so that they can get it. but what's interest

whatever their means and background, wherever they live, the cost of testing for brca 1 and brca 2 at3,000 in the united states remain an obstacle for many women. why is the test so costly? and does insurance cover it? >> most insurance companies do. not all don't. i'm glad she wrote that. because the problem is that there is only one company in the united states that does the test. they have the mo nopoly on it. >> one company? >> one company. >> isn't that kind of unfair? i mean, if only one company has it, suppose -- >> this company owns the patent. it is a gene, but they have the patent. there is a lawsuit going on now. this is round two. between this company, myriad and geneticists and the acl -- excuse me. because the issue is whether or not a company can have a patent on the gene. something that's naturally occurring. >> now, who should get this genetic testing for breast cancer? two first degree relatives diagnosed with breast cancer, one before age 51. first and second degree relatives diagnosed with breast cancer or ovarian cancer. male relative diagnosed with breast cancer.

jolie's tests came back positive for a mutation on a gene known as brca 1. mutations on these genes like the one found in jolie's tests exponentially increase breast cancer risk. a woman who has inherited the flaw in the genes is about five times more likely to develop breast cancer than a woman without the mutation. it is i terrifying possibility to consider both for woman who have tested positive and for women who haven't taken the test but fear what may be lurking in their dna. jolie said she was motivated to share her story by a desire to help women face that fear through empowering themselves with information. she wrote "i chose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they may be living under the shadow of cancer. it is my hope that they too will be able to get gene test and that if they have a high risk, they too will know they have strong options." >>> only women who carry genes with the brca mutation aren't the only beneficiaries of the test. so too the company that owns the exclusive rights to their genes. myri

jolie tested positive for brca 1.omen who carry mutations have a 65% risk of developing breast cancer. for jolie and other women the choices are stark. in 2005, jessica cueller was a successful television writer. >> my mother had breast cancer which she beat, seven years later, diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. and she died two years after that. i just decided you know what i should for peace of mind take the test. >> reporter: the results, positive. jessica was at high risk for developing breast cancer. >> to me breast cancer is the worst thing in the world. i don't want to gamble with it. i don't want to gamble maybe we will catch it early enough. >> reporter: she decided to have the double mastectomy. today, eight years later, jessica is the mother to 3-year-old sophie who she had, via an anonymous sperm donor after nine attempts to become pregnant. >> my daughter is the light of my life. i don't have word to express how much i love this little creature. >> reporter: she says angelina jolie is a role model to

1 than brca 2 but in the same ballpark.out 20 times the average woman's risk of ovarian cancer. >> reporter: she says up to 35% of women opt to have a preventative double mastectomy. laurie wallace had the same surgery. she applauds jolie for sharing her journey. >> she is known for her body and she chose to have the surgery that fundamentally changes her body. she will have scars although hers should be pretty small. she is not going to have feeling in her chest like we don't afterwards. it is really amazing that she share that with us. >> reporter: surgery is not the only option. >> women whose risk is high may choose to consider it. screening is certainly a very acceptable alternative for high risk women and it really is their decision of which they prefer. >> reporter: she says for women who learn they have the inherited gene mutation the decision on how to minimize the risk is a personal one that should be addressed with their doctor but was glad such a high profile woman was brave enough to shed the light on the risk.

most women don't have brca.'re talking a lot about brca because of angelina jolie, most women even those with a mother or a sister with breast cancer don't have that gene. >> i just want to clear up one other thing. we talked about the cost of that test. $3,000, $4,000. one of the women in that piece said she did a spit test that was $99. it came back positive for her. i thought that's a huge difference in price. is that an option? >> i can't tell you about the accuracy of that spit test to know but i think women should understand if you have a reason to have a brca test that most insurance companies will cover that cost. >> here's a sensitive subject that i'm going to let everybody in on. when i left my first set of doctors, my decision was i'm having a double mastectomy. there's all there is to it. it's complicated for them to follow. i'm done with it. when i went to see you on the other hand you have a very different opinion about how women should deal with breast cancer. i want you to talk about that. that d

martin's husband said his wife had the same faulty brca gene that jolie does but didn't know it until the 2004 cancer diagnosis. >> since angelina came out with the news about her double ma mastecto mastectomy. debbie and i reflected that had we known before she got breast cancer, if we had the same information from the brca test, we would have done the same thing. it would have saved her life. >> so far jolie has not commented public lick abocklbli aunt's death. >>> coming up. a woman killed in a crash and what we're learning about the woman who died and the others that were hurt. >> the tree came down on the car. . made it difficult to access. >> so difficult the fire crews had to use the jaws of live to pull two people out of the car. new video you'll see next. >>> and american flag getting a workout in san francisco this morning. rain on the way. we'll give you hour by hour changes for memorial day when "today in the bay" comes right back. >>> welcome back. new video, only on nbc bay area of what appears to be a series of car crashes overnight in redwood city. in the past hour pol

what gee lee decided to do was have a gentleman nettic test testing for mutations brca one and brca twoan genes linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. that's how she came up with the 87% chance of breast cancer. initial reaction, what did you feel when you first heard the story? >> i immediately thought of, you know, a good friend of mine who was diagnosed with stage two cancer at the age of 30 and she had a double mastectomy. i remember, of course, her insurance company paid for that, but she also to pay out of pocket for reconstructive surgery. i know that angelina jolie was able to do that. think of the women out there that get their breasts removed and don't have the money to pay for reconstructive surgery. it takes their womanhood away from them, you know, they feel like they're not complete. it's a really, really sad story. in terms of her decision to do it. i think that not only is it a personal decision, from my perspective was very smart decrease be the chances from 87% to 5%. >> she said i am no less a woman. she pointed out she could afford to do the reconstruction.

that next step -- having her ovaries removed, something that nearly 70% of those testing positive for brca do. why do you recommend having your ovaries removed as well? >> they typically go hand in hand. removing the ovaries is as important, if not more important than a mastectomy, because there's no screening test for ovarian cancer. >> reporter: ovarian cancer is called the silent killer, claiming the lives of over 140,000 american women in the last decade. but there are risks involved with ovarian removal. cardiovascular disease, immediate menopause, and routine surgical complications. for our viewer, her ovarian cancer is back, but her fighting spirit never went away. >> i'm going to beat it. i'm going to beat it. >> reporter: and for jolie, she told diane she's been making these kinds of tough decisions for years. >> i had to be a lot braver today than i had to be when i was 20. paula faris, abc news, new york. >>> and now two quick notes from our planet tonight. 24 hours into the brand new pacific hurricane season, the first tropical storm, now named alvin, is on the map right there.

tell us about the brca 1 test.n who have a history of cancer in their family flock to their doctors to get screened? >> yes. the brca 1 test is a simple blood test that can identify a mutation in a gene that can place patients at risk. in miss jolie's instance, up to an 85% chance that she would develop breast cancer sometime during her lifetime. and also about a 50% chance that she would develop ovarian cancer during her lifetime. the important thing about this test is it's not recommended for all women. so it's only recommended for women who show some evidence that they might have a hereditary risk of breast cancer. >> as we're seeing the fact that her breast cancer chances have now been reduced to under 5%, whereas before they were roughly at 87%, explain what it means to go through this procedure, especially when we talk about the naipple sparing procedure. it's more advanced than it would be normally, correct? >> absolutely. i think that really has influenced women's decisions. the cosmetic results that are av

. >> that gene that puts her at greater risk is called brca-1. it gives her a higher risk of owe v ovarian cancer. she did have reconstructive breast surgery. we may or may not notice a difference the next time we see her on the red carpet. she is hoping this article will save a life. coming up in my next report, if your curious about testing for that specific gene. we will tell you how much it costs. even jolie talks about the expensive price tag. >> the need for it. >> thank you very much. >> we had a chance to read the article. it is a great one. if you haven't read it, we highly recommend that. >> she shared that. so personal. hopefully, it will help others as well. >>> 6:17 right now. christina loren is here to tell us about our tuesday forecast and beyond that. >> beyond that, always. the self-test is so important. you should start that when you are 25 years old, ladies. i have already had a pretty good scare. i'm not going to tell you how old i am but not even close to where you are supposed to get mammograms >>> we're looking pÑgood. temp

>> the options for brca testing or options for women who have tested positive for brca, actually it'sng for her, are not so many. there really is very little -- very few options for prevention of breast cancer, so either women decide to have this very, very life-changing surgery in some ways or they opt for surveillance. >> that's interesting you say that because if you have the brca-i or brca-ii you say very few options because 90% likelihood they're going to get breast cancer at some point. >> yes. this is a very, very selected group of women. it doesn't apply to the general population. the whole concept of running out to get tested doesn't apply to most women other than those for whom they have a very, very strong haem history of breast or ovarian cancer. of women who test positive for brca mutations, either i or ii, about half or just under half, choose to undergo the surgery. but remember, life is long. and they may not make the decision at the time they learn of the mutations. >> how much do you think you'll see an uptick now? is the phone going to be ringing off the hook now or

>> 5% to 10% of people with breast cancer have brca 1 or brca 2. >> doctor, i have friends that have had test and you grapple with whether or not to have a double mastectomy what are the risks to having a double mastectomy, what are benefits? >> hey listen. no right answer on what to do. the real benefit is that you dramatically reduce risk of breast cancer. it doesn't go to zero. there is some breast tissue left. in the case of ms. jolie it goes from 80% range down to 5%. the risk is that it's major surgery and many people don't want that so there are pills that one can take that can dramatically reduce risk but it is taking a pill every day for the rest of your life and we don't have real long-term data with these pills yet. >> and angelina jolie talked about the next step for her, which is an oophorectomy having offries ry ovaries removed. >> she has 50% chance of developing ovarian cancer. taking out the ovaries, a relatively simple surgery, but a big decision for a woman to make. >> thank you very much. >>> after ten weeks of testimony, a philadelphia doctor found guilty of murd

but you do not have the mutation of the brca 1 or 2 gene. correct? >> i don't.r a small percentage of cancer every year. >> gretchen: so there are people like yourself who have the family history, but not the gene mutation who decide to do the surgery? >> right. especially someone like me would had a mom diagnosed in her 20s. then to have it recur 20 years later in the other breast and passed away from it shows a strong hereditary link. >> gretchen: your mom was 27 when she was diagnosed. is this looming for you relatively soon? >> it is. something where i thought if i turn 25 this month, the idea that i could be facing a battle with breast cancer in two years was very real. and honestly very scary. so i said why not make the decision now, especially when i have a platform through the miss america organization to speak to my generation, to spread this message, why not? >> gretchen: so you are going to be meeting with physicians coming up next month, right? >> yes. i give up my title june 9. we're crowning the new miss dc and then it's kind of getting the ball ro

by her red at this or in your family and, there are many different genes but two particular genes, brca2 cause the preponderance of these hereditary breast canners and where the general population might have 12% risk over their lifetime of getting breast cancer people with these two gene mutations, because the genes themselves are suppresor genes and help suppress cancer but if there is mutation in one or two genes you have an increased risk for cancer. so it goes up to over 60% for breast cancer and where there's a 14% risk of the general population getting ovarian cancer, with the brca-1 and 2 mutations have over 40% risk. and so, it really just increases your risk of getting these two cancers. she had a mother who died at a young age of ovarian cancer and it turned out that she has the gene mutation. jenna: so she was a good candidate for checking for the genetic testing because she had this family history. it was ovarian cancer. so it made sense she was able to get the blood test and get genetic testing. what about her description, doctor? she talks about being around for her childr

only less than 1% of all women actually carry the brca 1 or brca 2 jeans. thousands diagnosed every year, only 5 to 10% of those patients have the defective gene. for someone like jolie with a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer the test can be beneficial. it is also expensive. it costs about $4,000 without insurance. we found out most insurance companies cover the cost of the test if you are at high risk of having the mutation. under the new health care law it is considered preventive care for high risk patients. for me i think the bottom line is that jolie's story started a national conversation that is important for all of us to have. we should all know our family health history. we should all be talking about preventive screenings and encouraging men and women alike to be in rj which of their own bodies and health. fred, back to you. >> thanks so much, sanjay. coming up at 4:30 eastern, sanjay gupta talks more about this. he takes a closer look at angelina jolie's procedure, genetic testing, and other celebrities that also had that procedu

en el caso de marta, ella ya habÍa tenido cÁncer dos veces, o en el caso de angelina tenÍa el gen brcaamos hablando de que se trata de una enfermedad muy, muy extendida, Éstas son las cifras que tenemos. los nuevos casos de cÁncer sÓlo en el 2013 son altÍsimos, 232,340 mujeres sÓlo en los estados unidos, y las muertes se estÁn calculando en 39620 sÓlo en el aÑo 2013, ¿por quÉ hay tanto cÁncer de seno en los estados unidos? >> yo creo que, nÚmero uno, nos hemos convertido en una naciÓn una muy buena identificando el cÁncer de seno, o sea, tenemos tecnologÍa avanzada que logra identificarlo en una edad mÁs temprana o en una etapa del cÁncer mas temprano, cuando uno tiene esa sensibilidad o esa sensibilidad en los estudios pues tambiÉn va a aumentar la incidencia en la prevalencia de cÁncer del seno tambiÉn tiene que ver, jorge, aunque esto es mÁs difÍcil de probar con nuestro estilo de vida, la dieta, la epidemia de la obesidad, la falta de ejercicio, cÓmo vivimos hoy dÍa, aunque sea difÍcil de calcular los estudios cientÍficos esto tiene que ver y muchos expertos lo han dicho y yo me un

but it has patents on the brca-1 and 2 genes.hen mutated, those genes are linked to an increased risk for breast and ovarian cancer. because of the patents, myriad has a monopoly on the test to find the mutations. >> we believe that gene patents of this nature decrease access to testing for our patients. and the lack of competition in testing increases costs, decreases quality. >> reporter: this doctor represents the association for molecular pathology which is challenging myriad all the way to sroblem with patenting the human gene is that you're patenting a fundamental property of an individual. >> reporter: myriad genetics declined our request for an on camera interview but told us what it patented are synthetic molecules that do not exist in the human body. the question at the heart of the case before the supreme court is this -- can genes or synthetic genes be patented or are they products of nature that shouldn't be owned by anyone? >> this case is such a big deal because so many people think the future of medicine is geneti

she has of getting ovarian cancer, a lot of times a lot of women have chosen when they do have this brcamove their oaf veries, as well. do you think that that will be another option for her, what other treatments are available? >> well, it could be. when you read her piece in the "times" she sort of leaves that open. she said she wanted to do this first, since the risk was higher for breast cancer. but she leaves it open whether she's going to get her ovaries removed, as well. in some ways getting your ovaries removed is a bigger deal because it puts you into menopause. and so you've got this whole hormonal situation to deal with, as well. so it may be that she just, you know, you're not going to do both right at the same time. it may be something that she's putting off for another time. but that is the cancer her mother died of, ovarian cancer, so i imagine that it's really weigh -- >> weighing on her. >> absolutely. >> she loves a big family so you've got to feel for her making that major decision. that incredible team has helped me deal with my stuff, as well. so thank you, elizabeth

offit, give us a little more elaboration on whoexactly is at risk from th brca gene that we keep talking about? >> well, we should first make it clear that this is a minority of women with breast cancer. we think only about 5% of women with breast cancer will have this hereditary high-risk form. and those are the individuals who would benefit most from genetic testing. individuals who are very early age with breast cancer-- 30s and 40s-- we think all women with ovarian cancer should have genetic testing if you have a family history of breast and ovarian cancer in your family, male prostate canc can al run in these families and individuals who are of eastern european ashkenazi jewish heritage are also at increased risk for type of hereditary cancer, but it's still a small part of the overall amount of breast cancer. >> ifill: beth person kin, when we talk about genetic testing, what does that involve? >> the first step is genetic counseling. so the first step is to get a comprehensive risk assessment, learn about their personal and family history and determine exact what exactly risk is t

thankfully i'm brca 1 and 2 negative. only a small portion of breast cancers. there's so many other opportunities for breast cancer to affect your life and it only is a test for 90% of your genes. we're lucky we're in the technological age that we can map our genome. i'm going to be doing that in the -- you know, pretty recent future. i said this is the right decision for me to have this family history, i'm going to make the proactive decision. >> allyn, if you would, talk to young women. i think there are a lot of women out there who in some ways their value is tied up to the way they look, the way they present themselves. and you are a part of, you know, contests and miss d.c., and this is obviously something that you've thought about very -- very passionately about. do you have some words for young women who are thinking about how that influences how they feel on the inside? >> right. i mean, i work in the beauty industry. i'm a full-time model. i competed in the miss usa program, competed in the miss america pageant.

she was just 42 when she discovered that she carried the mutated brca gene. her sister nearly lost her life to breast cancer twice. so she decided to get the double mastectomy. this vibrant mother of two chronicled her journey in a book called "cancer time bomb." my first thought was my kids. i had seen what was happening with my family and my dad's mother and sister both died of breast cancer and his only niece had breast cancer the first time my sister had hers. so i didn't want to go through that. i had already seen what my sister had gone through and i knew i wanted to be alive for my kids. >> reporter: she says being able to attend her son's bar mitzvah is a surreal moment. now, she had a high risk of ovarian cancer like jolie. the cost of genetic testing is high. $3,000. some insurances cover it, some don't. the hope for men women is that jolie's announcement will bring her enough attention to try to change that. tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. you can read angelina jolie's full statement on why she made the decision she did. go to ktv

she got tested for the brca mute yigs and found out the -- mutation and found out the probability of getting the cancer was more than 90%. taking preventive measures she had her ovaries removed and a future month's later a d mastectomy. >> it is like a big tummy tuck and they use your own tissue to create your own breasts. it effects your body. it was a long recovery it was a ten-hour surgery and i was in the hospital for a week. i had an ep detoural in my book -- of course pefk of course idural. i was sliced from side to side and they get a toll in your chest and the tissue from your stomach and bring it up under your chest to form your new breasts. it was a very rollar coastar ride of emotions. >> some people are hesitant to get tested because it is expensive and insurance companies don't always cover the cost. because of the history in her family it was important to find out the chances of her getting cancer which eventually led to her decision to opt for su. >>> one bay area champion in the fight against breast cancer has passed. barna brener led the. she was known for her fight

to 4% of these women, 3 to 4 out of 100 who had a preventative ovarian cancer surgery who had the brca gene and i'd never seen that until we started doing genetic testing. so while the focus is on breast cancer surgery your question is right, we want to think about the ovarian surgery first. >> ifill: i also want to ask you briefly, who's paying for. is there something that cover this is kind of radical almost elective surgely. is it covered by insurance? >> absolutely. and, you know, one of the fears that we have -- beth will remember, you know, she was with us in new york when we were first starting all of this and we were very nervous the insurance companies would actually discriminate against women and not only not insure them but charge them more. in fact, the insurance companies have acted the other way and have paid for the testing and, in fact, they'll even pay for these types of surgeries and the m.r.i.s beth alluded to. >> ifill: angelina jolie is not the first person to have gone through this but she is drawing a lot of attention to this. so a woman calls you -- i assume you

martin's husband says his wife had the same brca 1 gene that jolie has but didn't know it until after4 diagnosis. >> since angelina came up with the news about her double mass tech t tech tommy, debbie and i said if we had known, woo would have done exactly the same thing. it would have saved her life. >> so far jolie has not commented publicly on her aunt's death but shows the impact this horrible disease has on so many families. >> no doubt she's saved their lives. >> here we are talking about memorial day and barbecues and scheduled rain. >> today is one of those days where if you have made outdoor plans, you always want to check the forecast, especially today. we have showers coming in and what i can tell you right now, if you do have plans to head out, whether we will be barbecuing and heading out to honor fallen men and women who serve this great nation, what i can tell you, we do have showers headed our way but not until the second half of the day. you should by okay. most of the bay area, you should be fine. i want to start with that live picture of san jose. you can smell tha

because the risk of ovarian cancer is real. 50% more than women who don't have the mutation of the brca-1 gene. in fact, sometimes doctors recommend to women they start with an ovarian removal before they worry about breast cancer because there is no screening test for ovarian cancer which is why the survival rates are so low. in this case, it's likely that for most women who are facing the same situation, ovaries can be removed endoscopically. it's outpatient surgery. whether or not the uterus is removed with it really depends on a woman's choice. this is usually recommended for women who have this severe mutation, family history and they are past their child-bearing age. a combination of really looking at genetics as part of this new wave of personalized medicine. brian? >> dr. nancy snyderman on this story that's in our news this week. nancy, thanks. >>> still ahead for us as our broadcast continues, surprising results in another front in the war on cancer, specifically a new treatment that allows your body to work as a weapon and attack the cancer from within. >>> and later, the qui

. >> i want to deal with this brca gene. this test is really expensive. were talking about it. i thought it was more. >> our insurance covered it? >> because of a strong history of it? >> yes. in a special surveillance program at sloan-kettering. >> i found out with a genetic test and wasn't testing for the brca gene, even though my sister had breast cancer she was negative. by the time the results came back i had already forgotten about it and i was just shocked that my sister had breast cancer and i had the gene. >> so to me the decision was not simple. i mean, it was in the sense that my first -- when i got diagnoseed by my first team of doctors, talking mastectomy. i walked out of there, cut them out. can we do it tomorrow. then a second opinion and started thinking differently. i thought about my kids right away and the fear of not being there in the future. that's powerful. right? >> touched me. wi angelina jolie. the kids. >> from that standpoint it is a no-brainer. >> this is what's so sad. women have to think we're vain. so many women say, i feel

. >> reporter: doctors recommend the brca gene test for women who have a personal or family history ofcreening, but lenox hill dr. stephanie says it gives the best chance to lower your risk. >> the decision for surgery in some women are extremely easy. they come in, know exactly what they want to do and have no regrets. in other women, they have a hard time. >> reporter: torres waited ten years before having the test done. >> i didn't want to know. and i think waiting as long as i did was the biggest mistake i made. >> reporter: she doesn't want other high-risk women to put it off as long as she did. >>> federal officials are recommending a lower blood alcohol level to reduce drunken driving accidents. ntsb wants states to reduce the blood alcohol limit for drivers from .8 to .5. a woman weighing 125 pounds would reach.5 with one drink, two for a man weighing 160. this is the "cbs morning news." day during your allergy season y for continuous relief. 18 days! 12 days! 24 days of continuous relief. live claritin clear. every day. so do tire swings! this is our ocean spray cran-lemonade.

came after discovering she had a high risk of developing breast cancer caused by a rare gene, the brca mutation, if you opened up the new york times, you saw her op-ed. i wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. but it's one i'm very happy i made. my chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87% to under 5%. i can tell my children that they don't need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer. and i know for many women out there, angelina's decision here has given them food for thought. encouragement to have the test or even go ahead with their own preventive mastectomy and in the case of cnn's own zoraida sambolin, our anchor, on early start, she chose angelina jolie's revelation to make her own brave announcement to the world. zoraida is joining me now here today. my goodness, just as a friend, welcome to you. and you are brave, my friend, and also with me, dr. lisa newman, a surgical on kaulcolog. zoraida, to you first, doctors detected breast cancer in one of your breasts but you made a decision to have both of your

it's called brca 1. it changes and mu tats.berkeley were the first ones to find evidence for the existence of this gene. about 15 minutes we caught up. she's the executive director for breast cancer reaction, an activist group with a stake in the fight to get women tested for b cra 1 commonly known as the breast cancer gene. some mutations are increase risk. women who have that increased risk may choose to undergo more surveillance or in some cases proef lafktic surgeries. breast cancer action is on a case that is currently before the u.s. supreme court challenging the fact that one company owned the patent on these human genes. what that means is one company has a monopoly oun all testing and creates a barrier to research so in her peace, angelina jolie notes that the test is over $3,000 and too many women are not able to access this potentially-life-saving information. >> the national cancer institute says preventive mastectomy may reduce by as much as 90% the chance for developing breast cancer in moderate to high hef risk w

she made the decision after finding out she carries the mutation of the brca-1 gene.at increases her risk of getting breast cancer by 87%. her mother died of cancer. jolie's surgery hitting close to home for dioguardi. >> i am going to undergo a mastectomy. i think it freaks people out because they say are you crazy, going to take your breast off? it's taking healthy tissue off and reconstructing it. and i think my boobs are going to look even better. >>gretchen: you can catch my interview with kara dioguardi at 7 a.m. this morning. >>steve: reconstruction on the seaside heights roller coaster in new jersey. it went right into the atlantic ocean after hurricane saepbd. they say -- sandy. they say it will take four days to demolish it completely. today prince harry is going to meet with governor chris christie. >>brian: forget the speed pass. get to the front of the line at disney by hiring a handicapped tour guide. "the new york post" reported some wealthy manhattan moms are doing just that, having people from dream tours florida pretend to be family members, and then

genes that can raise your risk of alzheimer's or colon cancer or -- i think what we're seeing now with brca is going to become much more widespread. i think this is part of the future of medicine and it's complicated and uncertain and that's one of the really problematic things of genetic testing. >> that you, yourself have experienced and had to act on. looking down the barrel of genetic probability is something i think a lot of us are going to be experiencing for ourselves. thank you both so much. that is all in for this evening. the rachel maddow show starts now. good evening, rachel. >> thank you very much and thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. new york city is the largest city united states. we all think of it as a sprawling metropolis. it is easy to forget you are on an island in the north atlantic. manhattan is surrounded by water. staten island is surrounded by water. all the new york city boroughs have coastlines and it is possible to do some very good fishing, so north atlantic fishing in se brooklyn, new york. i know this because i caught

she says she hopes her going public will inspire other women to get tested for the cancer casting brcae. >> strong reaction tonight to recommendation by federal safety official to lower the limit on how much people can drink before they drive. national transportation safety board wants the blood alcohol content or the bac lowered from the current.08 standard to.05 percent. any actual changes to the level are up to individual states but not everyone thinks lowering the limit is a good idea. >> we are talking one beer to drop to it 105 and not able to have a glass of wipe with dinner and drive home is extreme. come on. >> if i know that the legal limit is now.05 if i'm responsible individual that means i consume legal alcohol. >> ntsb believes if all 50 states change the standard to this.05 percent figure, nearly 1,000 lives could be saved every year. >> new report questioning common held theory about salt intake. influential institute of immediate says americans high risk for heart problems told to sharply cut the salt intake from the diet may not actually benefit from ultra low sodium.

the brca gene it stands for the breast cancer gene. it prevents cells from growing wildly. happens is if you have a mutation in this gene or something goes wrong with it, then it can grow very quickly and you can get breast cancer. it's not the gene itself it's that the gene has a problem with it. >> a mutation. >> one in 300 to 500 have it. shouldn't i get checked for it? it is very rare very expensive to test. you should only have the test if you have a family history of breast cancer or there may be a likelihood of it. her mother as you know died of ovarian cancer and was tested and found out this gene which meant she had a 50 percent chance of getting it. she has been very medically correct in this. >> the test is a simple blood test. you talked about the expense of it. how expensive can it be? >> it canni be up to 3,000 dollars. one of the things she is tieing to do is get the cost down. insurance doesn't cover this. a lot of the women who need this test couldn't get it. a simple blood test you can get the answer very, very quickly. generally it increases your lifetime

now this brca conversation is out there. and it is not considered such a drastic measure anymore.ced with so much judgment when i did it. so i'm excited that it's going to be something that people have the option to do. >> you were faced with a lot of judgment from people? >> well, people just didn't understand. they would say things like, well, just diet more or don't eat sugar and they didn't understand this was a genetic, a mutation on a gene. there was -- when you have an 87% chance of getting breast cancer, and close to 50%, there is not that much choice there. >> you know, you told me some pretty personal things on the phone that i know you want to share. especially when it comes to dating. >> yeah. well, dating in los angeles isn't fun, i don't think with or without your ovaries. but in general, i think the idea of a double mastectomy for me was difficult to speak to my partners about. i did, ten years ago, i was met with a couple of criticism, but not the best response. so i pretty much kept myself covered, no man has seen my breasts in the past ten years. and i'm hoping w

genes that can raise your risk of alzheimer's or colon cancer or -- i think what we're seeing now with brca. i think this is part of the future of medicine, and it's complicated and uncertain and that's one of the really problematic things of genetic testing. >> so the first person experience that angelina jolie laid out very movingly today that you, yourself has experienced and had to act on, looking down the barrel of genetic probability is something i think a lot of us are going to be experiencing for ourselves. author and journalist lizzie stark and congresswoman karen bass. thank you so much. that's it for this evening. "the rachel mad do you show" starts right now. good evening, rachel. >> thank you very much and thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. new york city is the largest city united states. we all think of it as a sprawling mega metropolis, and because it is so big, even while you are in new york city, it's very easy to forget that where you actually are is on an island in the north atlantic. manhattan is surrounded by water. staten island, is as the name implied, su

learning she carries aegean that significantly increases her risk for breast and ovarian cancer, called brca-1. it gives her an 87% risk of breast cancer. now that she has undergone the double mastectomy, that percentage has dropped remarkably. >> many women don't take this step until they get breast cancer. this is a very aggressive step she is taking but it may reduce her chances of ever getting breast cancer significantly, close to 5% or even zero. >> jolie also writes about her other inspirations, one being her mother, who she lost to cancer in 2007 at just 56 years old. also, her children, you may recall, the award-winning actress, has six children with brad pitt. she writes, i can tell my children, they don't need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer. they can see my small scars and that's it. everything else is just mommy, the same as she always was. in the end, she wants to encourage women to get tested to know their options and to not be afraid. she talks about the cost of their testing. it is upwards of $3,000. if you can save one life, she has certainly done one job. they wi