- I'm about to take a test to see
if I have a gene mutation, which tells me
if I'm at risk of getting prostate cancer.
(gentle music)
My eldest sister, who's my half sister,
got breast cancer when she was 35.
We don't really know why.
We also asked whether we had that gene or how susceptible
we were of getting cancer at a very young age.
- My mom had cancer, she had breast cancer.
And ended up passing because of pancreatic cancer
'cause it traveled throughout her whole body, so,
you know, I could be positive for, you know,
prostate cancer, I could have the gene for it, and,
you know, I could even have the gene for breast cancer,
'cause men can get breast cancer as well.
(gentle music)
- I'm very curious to find out
how likely I am to get cancer.
Will I pass this gene on?
And if I have the gene, what can I do about it?
- My family's predisposed to cancer,
and I have other medical issues as well.
You know, I wanna know for myself.
- So Color is a personalized health service
that helps analyze an individual's risk
for the eight most common types of hereditary cancer.
- Step one: provide your saliva sample.
- Ready for the gross part?
- So the test itself analyzes 30 different genes,
or DNA, and if someone has a change,
or what we call a mutation in one of those genes,
it can really impact a person's cancer risk,
and hopefully help us identify those cancers
at a very early, treatable stage.
Or even help prevent those cancers from happening.
- I feel like any way this is good news,
and lesser good news, because if I find out early,
at least I can do something about it.
- So having a mutation does not mean
that an individual has cancer or will get cancer,
it just means that their risk
for certain cancers are increased.
So about 14% of all men will develop
prostate cancer in their lifetime.
It's a very common cancer, so a man who takes
the Color test can learn if he has
an increased risk of prostate cancer.
- So this is a very, very easy process.
- It's all done.
Now we play the waiting game.
(inspirational music)
- Alright Robin, so your test came back
that there were no mutations identified.
So that's essentially good news,
it means that your result was negative.
Okay Zach, so when you took the Color test,
it came back negative, so we didn't find any mutations
in any of the 30 genes that we tested for.
- That's a huge relief.
It's a big, big relief.
- It just means the risk of me getting cancer
is lower, or the same, as everyone else?
- That's right. - In this situation?
- Now this test doesn't eliminate your risk,
but it does mean that your hereditary risk
for these eight cancers is not increased.
- There was one specific question
asking about, are you of Ashkenazi Jewish descent,
and I am, is there a reason why--
- People of Ashkenazi Jewish descent have a higher risk
of having certain mutations in some of our genes.
- Gotcha.
- So there's lots of things that individuals
can do to help reduce their cancer risk.
Things like leading a healthy lifestyle,
keeping a healthy weight,
eating lots of fruits and vegetables, not smoking tobacco.
- So eating right and exercising.
I can do that.
- This whole experience was really informative.
A bit nerve-wracking, but overall really, super informative.
- I mean, it's an odd thing for me to take,
because I normally consider myself very young and healthy,
so I don't really consider possibilities of my doom.
- It makes me think a lot about how I take care of myself.
I'm comfortable in the skin I'm in,
I'm comfortable with the weight I have on my body,
but that doesn't mean I shouldn't
wanna live a full, healthy life.
- I think it just reminds me that
I still need to take care of myself.
And it's not something I should take for granted.
Overall, it's just good to stay informed.
- If you can take it, I would say take the test.
If you're really truly concerned,
I think this is a great way to find out
if you're predisposed to any of these mutations.
(upbeat soul music)
Just pay attention to how much you spit.
I overspat.
(laughs)
And it just, I think it kinda messed them up?
I don't know, maybe it didn't.