Cancer is no stranger to Darlene Siclenski and her family. Darlene’s older sister, mother and grandmother died from an aggressive form of breast cancer when they were young. However, it was when her beloved sister, Patty, succumbed to the disease at the age of 35, leaving behind a husband, an 18-month-old-daughter and two sons, ages 5 and 15, that Darlene and her surviving sisters, Debbie and Elaine knew they had to fight cancer with everything they had.

The three women joined the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment and Prevention Program at Roswell Park. As part of their evaluation, they met with genetic counselors and chose to undergo genetic testing. Debbie and Elaine tested negative for mutations in both the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Mutations in these genes can increase a woman’s lifetime chance of developing breast by about 85% and ovarian cancer by up to 45%. Darlene had a mutation in BRCA1.

Darlene decided to proactively face cancer. She chose to have preventive surgeries – a double mastectomy and salpingo-oophorectomy (removal of healthy fallopian tubes and ovaries) in hopes of reducing her chance of developing cancer.

“It was not a hard decision. I want to be here for my children,” Darlene said. “This cancer has taken too many members of my family. It is going to stop here. We are going to make sure the next generation – my children and nieces and nephews – learns about cancer so that they, too, can try to prevent this disease.”

Always a close family, the sisters are even closer now that they know their genetic history. “We miss Patty and Donna every day. But because of their courage in fighting cancer, I had the courage to have genetic testing,” said Darlene.

Darlene’s message of hope of the holidays: “Ask questions about your family’s medical history, and if there is cancer in your family tree, consider genetic counseling and testing. “It saved my life. It could save yours,” she shared.