14 DAY TRIAL // Eleven members of the Bradfield family from California have had their stomachs removed in order to prevent cancer. They suffered from a rare form of hereditary cancer that previously killed several other of their relatives.
Genetic tests showed that Mike Slaubugh and 10 of his cousins inherited a gene from their grandmother, Golda Bradfield, which increases their chances with 70% to develop the same type of cancer that put an end to her life.
This type of cancer is called hereditary diffuse gastric cancer and has affected 100 other families worldwide.
The procedure they opted out for is medically termed as gastrectomy and consists in the surgical removing of all or some parts of the stomach. It is performed for several reasons, most commonly to remove a malignant tumor or to cure a perforated or bleeding stomach ulcer.
After gastrectomy, the surgeon may reconstruct the altered portions of the digestive tract so that it continues to function. Several different surgical techniques are used but, generally, the surgeon attaches any remaining portion of the stomach to the small intestine.
Patients without a stomach lose a lot of weight as they must eat smaller, but more meals than an ordinary person due to the fact that the digestion of the food is no longer made by the stomach, but by their small intestine.
Nevertheless, this is not the only procedure that allows for removal of body parts. Other people carrying a defective gene that endowed them with a high risk of cancer had their stomachs, breasts, ovaries, colons or thyroid glands removed.
Dr David Huntsman of the University of British Columbia, who found the gene mutation in the family, declared that it is better for the Bradfields to go through the surgical operation because they chose not to live in fear, but to fight against their genetic destiny.
Mr. Slabaugh, aged 52, working as marketing executive, had no hesitation when he found out he can choose to remove the sick part of his body and declared: "We're all going to die of something, but I know I won't die of stomach cancer."