Interview: Gossip Girl's Jessica Queller On Her Mother's Cancer and Her Own Double Mastectomy

READER'S POLL: If genetic test results indicated that cancer was very likely in your future, what would you do?

NH: In your Times Op-Ed, which was published in 2005, five months after you tested positive for the BRCA genetic mutation, you wrote that "[u]nfortunately the test for the BRCA gene is just a decade old, and doctors can offer no definitive guidance to women diagnosed with a genetic predisposition to cancer." Have things gotten better for women who test positive for the BRCA genetic mutation? How?

JQ: I feel that doctors now have more confidence in recommending prophylactic surgery to BRCA+ women. Things have gotten better in that there is a lot more awareness on the subject. Unfortunately things have not gotten better in that there are still no new options available. As of now, a BRCA+ woman still has only two choices - neither of them optimal: Surveillance, which means watching and waiting and hoping to catch the cancer early if it strikes; and mastectomy. I pray that medical science will come up with a better option soon.

NH: If not, how long - in your estimation - will women have to wait to get adequate support and guidance? What could be done to expedite improvement, and do you feel you are playing a role in this? Who is making the biggest difference in this space?

JQ: Education is the best tool we currently have in making informed and responsible choices. I hope I'm helping to educate other women, and especially hope I can inspire them not to be afraid if they want to take surgical action. Many doctors I know are working to educate other doctors around the country in genetic medicine - a relatively new field. Unfortunately, too many doctors are stuck in their old ways and not willing to change with the times. It's critical that every doctor caring for high-risk women stay up-to-date on the latest technologies so that they can provide women the best care.

NH: I noticed that you are continuing to speak at media events about your story and your book. Do you have any plans to write for cancer causes either online or in print?

JQ: I try to say yes to every invitation I receive to speak on this subject. It's my passion to help prevent cancer in high-risk women. I will always continue to support cancer awareness, prevention and research. Unfortunately, I have a demanding day job as a writer on the TV show Gossip Girl so I don't have as much free time to devote to this topic as I would like. I have no immediate plans to write anything else on the subject, but yes, I continue scheduling speaking events at cancer centers, synagogues, and anywhere else I feel I can be of help.

NH: What was the most traumatic moment in your mom's struggle against breast cancer? Was it that particular moment, or something else, that drove your decision to undergo a prophylactic double mastectomy?

JQ: My mom's struggle against breast cancer was horrible - she was terribly ill for over a year, lost all of her hair, and afterwards lived with the fear that cancer would return at some point. In fact, it did return six years later when she was struck with ovarian cancer. It was my mother's horrific bout with ovarian cancer that made me vow never to get cancer of any kind if I could help it. I removed my breasts first because my statistical chances of breast cancer were so high. But I also plan to remove my ovaries at age 40. My mother's death from cancer at age 60 will haunt me for the rest of my life. Everything I do, every decision I make, is informed by this.