Dr. Partridge on PGD in Young Patients With Breast Cancer

Ann H. Partridge, MD, MPH, founder and director, Program for Young Women with Breast Cancer, director, Adult Survivorship Program, senior physician, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, associate professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, discusses preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in young patients with breast cancer.

Fertility and fertility preservation are significant issues in young patients with breast cancer. One controversial area of this is PGD, a technology that determines whether a patient's embryo will harbor the same breast cancer predisposing mutant gene, such as BRCA1 or BRCA2, as the patient, Partridge explains. This is available and is a relatively safe proceudure; however, it is associated with financial and emotional stress. Patients must also undergo in vitro fertilization, Partridge says.

Societal and ethical issues also surround the procedure and, ultimately, what decision patients make with their embryo. Though PGD is a significant technological advancement in the field, it does remain controversial, she adds.