The Tribune

DURING the month of May, a team from the Bahamas Breast Cancer Initiative Foundation (BBCIF), led by its executive director, Melissa Major, and including genetic counsellor Magan Trottier and BBCIF volunteer Kitiboni Adderley, visited Eleuthera to conduct testing for the BRCA gene which pre-disposes carriers to breast cancer.

Established in 2008, the BBCIF’s research and testing work is a critical component of the organisation’s mission objective to support the early detection of breast cancer in women and the improvement of breast cancer care in the Bahamas.

To date, the BBCIF’s genetic research has found that more than one in four Bahamian women diagnosed with breast cancer also carry the mutated gene; an inherited gene. This ratio of Bahamian carriers represents the highest incidence of the gene than anywhere in the world.

In May, the BBCIF collaborated with the One Eleuthera Foundation on a three-day visit to the island, which included stops to the Bluff, Palmetto Point and Tarpum Bay.

Eleuthera Breast Cancer Coordinator and One Eleuthera Foundation team member Maisie Pinder explained that the “testing was very successful and necessary”.

“The response exceeded my expectations. The women of Eleuthera are becoming more proactive, and it shows that our work is not in vain,” she said.

For this visit, the BBCIF hoped to test 125 women for the gene mutation.

Some 120 women, aged 20 to 76 years old, participated in the testing, with most citing a family history of breast cancer as their main reason for undergoing the genetic test.

Each test costs $200, or $25,000 for 125 women.

The Eleuthera exercise was made possible by the support of the locally based One Eleuthera Foundation which donated $12,000 to the cause, and the Windemere Foundation, which provided $8,000. The effort was also supported by the Rotary Clubs of The Bahamas, which donated $5,000 in support of the Eleuthera testing.

Ms Major explained that “One Eleuthera chief executive officer Shaun Ingraham was determined to have Eleuthera women tested”.

“He presented the funding to us and coordinated the dates for us to get the testing done,” she said.

Mr Ingraham said “One Eleuthera is about strategic, systemic change”. 

“With the increases in social challenges we thought we needed to develop a more targeted approach to treatment and prevention and care,” he said.​

The BBCIF research goal is to annually test 2,000 Bahamian women who do not have breast cancer in order to establish an incidence rate for the BRCA gene mutation. Establishing such a rate would be a significant scientific milestone, allowing the medical and cancer support communities to develop appropriate preventative strategies and other measures for the entire population in The Bahamas. The BBCIF’s research and testing is headed by Dr Steven Narod from the Women’s College Research Institute in Toronto, Ontario.

The Eleuthera testing represented the first time that the genetic testing was done outside of New Providence.

The BBCIF, Ms Major explained, wants to conduct testing and counselling in at least six other Family Islands, including Abaco, Andros, Cat Island, Exuma and Grand Bahama. Which island the BBCIF visits next she said will depend on funding.

“Once funding becomes available, we would like to visit a different Family Island at least once every quarter and repeat the process with testing and education,” she said.

As for Eleuthera, Ms Major underscored that the BBCIF hopes to follow up the exercise with more education sessions on the island, including breast health workshops. The counselling component of the testing exercise she emphasised as being particularly important.

“The test is very psychological, considering that persons must wait months before results are received. So the counselling component explains what a person’s options would be, and the best next steps, should they be found to be a carrier of the gene,” she said.

Research has found that women with the mutated BRCA gene are 85 per cent more likely to develop breast cancer with a 40 per cent chance of developing ovarian cancer.

Organisations and individuals interested in supporting genetic testing in the family islands may contact the BBCIF at 322-7465 or by e-mail at info@bbcif.com. They may also visit the BBCIF website at www.bbcif.com.