Pima County Supervisor Betty Villegas and her daughter will be featured in a virtual reunion panel Thursday about the effects of genetic testing for a hereditary mutation that increases the risk for breast and ovarian cancer.
Villegas and Olga Guzman Ortiz were featured in a 2008 film, “In the Family,” a PBS documentary that tells the story of filmmaker Joanna Rudnick’s journey for genetic testing for BRCA mutations. BRCA is a hereditary cancer gene.
Along with Villegas and Guzman Ortiz, other women and their families were part of the documentary, including Villegas’ sister, Irma Santa Cruz, who passed away from cancer in 2015. She was 58.
On July 23 at 4 p.m. Tucson time, “the panelists will talk about the film, how far we’ve come with BRCA and where we are today,” said Villegas. Participants must register for the webinar panel at tucne.ws/1fgg
After participants register, they will receive a private link by email to watch the film, which is also subtitled in Spanish.
Villegas said she was 16 in 1969 when her mother died from ovarian cancer at age 39. She said she believes her mother had the genetic mutation gene and it was passed on to Villegas and her sister. Guzman Ortiz was tested and she does not have the gene, but two of Santa Cruz’s children do have it.
In 2001 at age 44, Santa Cruz chose to treat her cancer and keep regular doctor’s appointments every six months, but the cancer returned in 2013. It eventually spread to her lungs and brain, said Villegas.
Villegas said in 2004 that she found a lump in a breast and after tests and a biopsy she, too, was told she had cancer. She later tested for the BRCA genetic mutation and she does have the gene.
Villegas, 67, said she had a mastectomy and eventually chose to have her second breast removed, and have a full hysterectomy as a preventive measure. She said she is cancer-free. Villegas said her two sons still need to get tested for the cancer gene.
“We definitely are grateful to be where we are right now healthwise,” said Villegas. “But there are still no guarantees.”
“I lost my sister and that is a huge loss for me,” Villegas said. “But, we all have our choices. It is our bodies,” she said, explaining that her sister chose not to take early preventive measures and have a double-mastectomy to lower the risks of the reoccurrence of cancer.
“I still believe that knowledge is power, and the more you know about yourself and your body the better you can advocate for your health. It is an individual choice,” Villegas said.
