"The research we're doing here we believe is unique in the world in that we have a very large number of women who are part of our cohort who have been tested for all the known genes, but returned a negative result," Professor Campbell says. Its special ingredient is the women of Australia: 9,000 of them with an unexplained hereditary breast cancer, along with tens of thousands of others without breast cancer used as control cases. It's a mystery the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre is at the forefront of trying to solve, with the help of funding from a variety of sources, including the National Breast Cancer Foundation. But for the other 60 per cent, "it's a mystery". Up to 40 per cent of those women will be able to learn the type of mutation through today's advanced tests. Genetic counselling can be provided face-to face at specialised familial cancer centres in every metropolitan city, or through video-conferencing.įor every 100 women who get breast cancer, Professor Campbell says, about 10 to 15 of them will have an inherited gene mutation. "That DNA can be sent to the laboratory to get that test so it doesn't matter whether you live in the CBD or some outback town," he explains. If a patient, or their GP, suspects they have, or are at risk of, familial breast cancer, a GP can organise for testing kits to be posted. ![]() ![]() Jo's test for the currently confirmed eight to 10 genetic mutations was done through the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, but one of its leading researchers, Professor Ian Campbell, emphasises that no matter where a woman – or man - lives, they can access these tests. Nothing quite as revealing is required for Jo's new round of genetic testing: just a simple blood or saliva test. ![]() "I think there was a joke at one stage," recalls Jo, "that there wasn't a person left in Sydney that hadn't seen my breasts." In fact, Jo is so proud of her breast reconstruction that she will, as Erica puts it, "show them her boobs". It's been a 25-year association, alongside Jo and their late mum, Sheelah. Then there's her work with the National Breast Cancer Foundation. She's an ambassador for UNICEF Australia, most recently working alongside the Moriarty Foundation to bring early childhood centres to Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, and is still involved in the fashion industry. The children's upbringing, with the wealth of the Packer family behind them, is vastly different to her childhood, when going out for a meal at the Gunnedah Chinese restaurant was a rare and special event, but she tries to "create that sense of love and safety and security that I was fortunate to have as a kid". Now, Erica is settling back into London where she and the kids recently moved after spending nine years in Los Angeles. "And I'm grateful for the support that James gives me." "We found such a lovely way to co-parent and we take care of each other in how we each co-parent the kids," says Erica, who remains close to James' mother, Ros, and sister Gretel. "But I'm really proud of the fact that we've worked really hard to maintain a good relationship and a respectful relationship and a caring relationship because we both love our three kids so much and we have a lot of love for each other still. "And there's obviously speed bumps in the road and it's always tricky and you've got to navigate your way through. "Divorce is never fun for any couple," she says. But, Erica says, there's still a lot of love between them. Two years later, Erica and James separated.
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