Alumna’s book on breast cancer gene mutations nominated for national book award
11 July 2018
A book by NTU alumna Clarissa Foster (PGCE Post Compulsory Education 2003), on the BRCA (breast cancer) gene mutations, has been nominated for an award by the People’s Book Prize!
Clarissa, who carries the BRCA2 gene mutation herself, wrote the book entitled Understanding BRCA: Living with the breast cancer gene, with the aim of informing and supporting those who carry the BRCA1/2 gene, and others in the Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) community. The book aims to inform the reader of the management options available to BRCA mutation carriers, including screening (early detection), risk-reducing surgery and chemoprevention (the use of drugs to lower the risk of developing cancer), with reference to relevant research.
The book also includes Clarissa’s personal experience, both physically and emotionally, of undergoing a risk-reducing mastectomy (removal of breast tissue) and a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (removal of fallopian tubes and ovaries) and the surgically-induced menopause which follows.
The People’s Book Prize is a unique literary competition in which publishers submit entries to the competition which are then voted on by the public. The competition aims to find, support and promote new and undiscovered works of literature and help to eradicate illiteracy.
Find out more about Clarissa and her book on her website and vote for Clarissa’s book on the People’s Book Prize website
Image credit: Ravinder Crone Photography