Krystal Barter

Last updated
Krystal Barter
Krystal at the launch of her memoir The Lucky One 2014-03-27 22-17.jpg
Krystal Barter at the launch of her memoir The Lucky One

Krystal Barter is a health activist, author and founder of Humanise Health, A patient-led & advocacy agency working with leading businesses in the health sector who make it their purpose to positively impact lives.

Contents

She was detected to have the BRCA1 gene at an early age and opted to undertake a preventative double mastectomy. Barter also had ovarian prevention surgery in 2014. She has written a book called The Lucky One, about her experiences. She was honoured with Finalist Young Australian of the Year in 2012, [1] NSW Woman of the Year and Harpers Bazaar Woman of Influence. In March 2014, Margie Abbott launched Krystal's first published Memoir alongside Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Murdoch with the Sydney Morning Herald, hailing her as Australia's own Angelina Jolie. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Biography

When Barter was 22, she was detected to have the BRCA1 gene, a gene that significantly increases the chance of getting breast or ovarian cancer. Because Barter's great grandmother, grandmother and mother all had breast cancer, she realized that there was a high likelihood that she would as well. [1] At the time, she did not have any symptoms of the cancer but ovarian cancer had killed 903 Australians in 2011 and she did not want to be one of these people. Barter decided to have a preventative double mastectomy to remove both breasts and prevent getting this type of cancer. [6]

In 2009, Barter had her preventative double mastectomy when she was 25 years old. She was married with two young sons at the time and made the decision after wanting to be in their lives for many years to come. She was one of the first Australians to share her journey with the public to raise awareness that prevention is an option. [7]

Barter founded not for profit organisation, Pink Hope, from her hospital bed after her surgery. [8] She wanted the struggles her family had gone through to help change and inform other people with hereditary cancer. Barter found Pink Hope to provide support and information to them because when she found out about her BRCA1 gene, and was considering a preventative mastectomy, she had no one to turn to for advice. "I was alone and isolated, there was nobody my age who making the choices," Barter said. [6] In regards to Pink Hope's mission she has also said: “Having experienced the isolation and lack of information for high risk women like me, I decided to be proactive about helping others which lead to me creating Pink Hope. I have made it my personal mission to provideinformation, resources and support for the high risk community”. [7]

Later, in 2014, Barter also had her fallopian tubes and ovaries removed to dramatically reduce her risk for ovarian cancer. [7]

Barter is from Australia and is a wife, and mother of three. [8] [9] [6] Her grandmother died after fighting recurring cancers for many years.

She had a double mastectomy when she was 25 years old because her family had a history of cancer and she wanted to be sure she didn't develop it as well. [10] [11]

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breast cancer</span> Cancer that originates in mammary glands

Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a red or scaly patch of skin. In those with distant spread of the disease, there may be bone pain, swollen lymph nodes, shortness of breath, or yellow skin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcheline Bertrand</span> American actress (1950–2007)

Marcia Lynne "Marcheline" Bertrand was an American actress. She was the former wife of actor Jon Voight, and the mother of actress Angelina Jolie and actor James Haven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BRCA1</span> Gene known for its role in breast cancer

Breast cancer type 1 susceptibility protein is a protein that in humans is encoded by the BRCA1 gene. Orthologs are common in other vertebrate species, whereas invertebrate genomes may encode a more distantly related gene. BRCA1 is a human tumor suppressor gene and is responsible for repairing DNA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelina Jolie</span> American actress (born 1975)

Angelina Jolie is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards, she has been named Hollywood's highest-paid actress multiple times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary-Claire King</span> American geneticist

Mary-Claire King is an American geneticist. She was the first to show that breast cancer can be inherited due to mutations in the gene she called BRCA1. She studies human genetics and is particularly interested in genetic heterogeneity and complex traits. She studies the interaction of genetics and environmental influences and their effects on human conditions such as breast and ovarian cancer, inherited deafness, schizophrenia, HIV, systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. She has been the American Cancer Society Professor of the Department of Genome Sciences and of Medical Genetics in the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington since 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myriad Genetics</span> American biotechnology company

Myriad Genetics, Inc. is an American genetic testing and precision medicine company based in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Myriad employs a number of proprietary technologies that permit doctors and patients to understand the genetic basis of human disease and the role that genes play in the onset, progression and treatment of disease. This information is used to guide the development of new products that assess an individual's risk for developing disease later in life, identify a patient's likelihood of responding to a particular drug therapy, assess a patient's risk of disease progression and disease recurrence, and measure disease activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hereditary breast–ovarian cancer syndrome</span> Medical condition

Hereditary breast–ovarian cancer syndromes (HBOC) are cancer syndromes that produce higher than normal levels of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and additional cancers in genetically related families. It accounts for 90% of the hereditary cancers. The hereditary factors may be proven or suspected to cause the pattern of breast and ovarian cancer occurrences in the family. The name HBOC may be misleading because it implies that this genetic susceptibility to cancer is mainly in women. In reality, both sexes have the same rates of gene mutations and HBOC can predispose to other cancers including prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer. For this reason, the term "King syndrome" has recently come into use. The new name references Mary-Claire King who identified the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Obermeder</span>

Sally Obermeder is an Australian media personality and television presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Male breast cancer</span> Medical condition

Male breast cancer (MBC) is a cancer in males that originates in their breasts. Males account for less than 1% of new breast cancers with about 20,000 new cases being diagnosed worldwide every year. Its incidence rates in males vs. females are, respectively, 0.4 and 66.7 per 100,000 person-years. The worldwide incidences of male as well as female breast cancers have been increasing over the last few decades. Currently, one of every 800 men are estimated to develop this cancer during their lifetimes.

<i>BRCA</i> mutation Medical condition

A BRCA mutation is a mutation in either of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are tumour suppressor genes. Hundreds of different types of mutations in these genes have been identified, some of which have been determined to be harmful, while others have no proven impact. Harmful mutations in these genes may produce a hereditary breast–ovarian cancer syndrome in affected persons. Only 5–10% of breast cancer cases in women are attributed to BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, but the impact on women with the gene mutation is more profound. Women with harmful mutations in either BRCA1 or BRCA2 have a risk of breast cancer that is about five times the normal risk, and a risk of ovarian cancer that is about ten to thirty times normal. The risk of breast and ovarian cancer is higher for women with a high-risk BRCA1 mutation than with a BRCA2 mutation. Having a high-risk mutation does not guarantee that the woman will develop any type of cancer, or imply that any cancer that appears was actually caused by the mutation, rather than some other factor.

Professor Kefah Mokbel FRCS is the lead consultant breast surgeon at the London Breast Institute of the Princess Grace Hospital, Professor (Honorary) of Breast Cancer Surgery at Brunel University London, an honorary consultant breast surgeon at St George's Hospital. Kefah Mokbel is the founder and current president of Breast Cancer Hope; a UK-based charity "dedicated to improving the quantity and quality of life in women diagnosed with breast cancer". He was appointed as a substantive consultant breast surgeon at St George's Hospital NHS trust in February 2001. He was named in Tatler magazine's Best Doctors Guide as one of the featured "Top Breast Surgeons" in 2006, 2007 and 2013. In November 2010 he was named in the Times magazine's list of Britain's Top Doctors.

A preventive mastectomy or prophylactic mastectomy or risk-reducing mastectomy (RRM) is an elective operation to remove the breasts so that the risk of breast cancer is reduced.

Pink Hope is an Australian non-profit organisation founded by Krystal Barter for educating and preventing about hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.

Kristi Funk is an American breast cancer surgeon known for her surgical treatment of celebrities Angelina Jolie and Sheryl Crow and her advocacy of whole-food plant-based nutrition.

A variant of uncertainsignificance (VUS) is a genetic variant that has been identified through genetic testing but whose significance to the function or health of an organism is not known. Two related terms are "gene of uncertain significance" (GUS), which refers to a gene that has been identified through genome sequencing but whose connection to a human disease has not been established, and "insignificant mutation", referring to a gene variant that has no impact on the health or function of an organism. The term "variant' is favored in clinical practice over "mutation" because it can be used to describe an allele more precisely. When the variant has no impact on health, it is called a "benign variant". When it is associated with a disease, it is called a "pathogenic variant". A "pharmacogenomic variant" has an effect only when an individual takes a particular drug and therefore is neither benign nor pathogenic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margareta Svensson</span>

Margareta Svensson Riggs is a Swedish singer, pianist, songwriter, actress, voice teacher, vocal coach and television personality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alejandra Campoverdi</span> American politician

Alejandra Campoverdi is an American women’s health advocate and former White House aide. Under President Barack Obama, Campoverdi was the first White House Deputy Director of Hispanic Media.

Prevent Breast Cancer is a UK charity funding research solely aimed at preventing breast cancer. The Manchester-based charity aims to promote early diagnosis of breast cancer, improve cancer screenings, and change the habits and lifestyles of high-risk patients. Based at The Nightingale Centre & Prevent Breast Cancer Research Centre in Wythenshawe, Manchester, where the NHS co-ordinates the breast-screening programme for the Greater Manchester area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly Metcalfe</span> Canadian cancer researcher and professor

Kelly A. Metcalfe is a Canadian scientist and a professor at the University of Toronto and at Women's College Hospital. Her work's focus is on understanding the clinical and psychosocial implications of genetic testing for BRCA gene mutations in women, men and their families.

References

  1. 1 2 "Australian of the Year Awards". www.australianoftheyear.org.au. Archived from the original on February 6, 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
  2. ↑ "'Don't call me First Lady': PM's wife". 2014-03-25.
  3. ↑ "A key to breast cancer survival".
  4. ↑ "Australia Day".
  5. ↑ "A driving force for Pink Hope". 2014-03-21.
  6. 1 2 3 Power, Julie (2014-03-25). "Mum of three chooses radical surgery as 'Australia's Angelina Jolie'". Essential Baby. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  7. 1 2 3 "Ambassadors ‐ Australia Day". www.australiaday.org.au. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  8. 1 2 "The Lucky One by Krystal Barter | Pink Hope". pinkhope.org.au. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  9. ↑ "My advice to Angelina Jolie". NewsComAu. 2015-03-24. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  10. ↑ "The Australian woman who counselled Angelina Jolie". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2015-03-25. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  11. ↑ "Krystal Barter shares her inspiring story on this months Book Circle". Mamamia. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  12. ↑ (PDF) http://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/256031/Bios_for_Premiers_Woman_of_the_Year.pdf.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ "Krystal Barter". OverDrive. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  14. ↑ "Ambassadors ‐ Australia Day". www.australiaday.org.au. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.