Two sisters had their stomachs removed on the same day last year in effort to prevent a deadly cancer that took the lives of several of their relatives, it is reported by the Daily Mail.
Lisa Bendle, 24, and Ruth Bendle, 22, found out that they carried a gene, E-Cadherin (CAD1) gene, which puts them at greater risk for stomach cancer. Now they are considering other preventative surgeries.
The gene is also thought to be responsible for some types of breast and bowel cancer, according to the report. The sisters will decide over the next several months whether to have mastectomies and parts of their bowels removed to prevent the possibility of getting other cancers, according to the report.
"Unfortunately, we now have to confront the fact that we have a higher than average risk of contracting breast cancer, and if we want to beat those odds, we have to start the screening process," Lisa Bendle, a school teacher, told the Daily Mail. "We also have to consider screening for bowel cancer."
The sisters' paternal grandmother died from stomach cancer when she was just 27. Their father died of the disease three years ago and an aunt passed away when she was 43, just a week before their cousin died at age 18.
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