Dr. Lesa Dawson, MD FRCSC
Dr. Lesa Dawson completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and a fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Calgary. She holds a diploma in clinical epidemiology, and advanced training in Clinical Cancer Risk Assessment from The City of Hope Cancer Centre in Los Angeles, California. Her practice is in St. John’s, Newfoundland where she runs a Hereditary Cancer Prevention Clinic. She established an Inherited Gynecologic Cancer Screening & Prevention Clinic in 2002 to work towards her goal of increasing education and research about the importance of genetics in cancer. Her research is focused on gynecologic cancer prevention in women with Lynch Syndrome and BRCA mutations within Newfoundland families.
Ovarian Cancer Genetic Research
Dr. Dawson was featured in the following article on Ovarian Cancer Canada’s website which demonstrates the important role genetic testing plays in Ovarian Cancer detection. Below is excerpts of that article.
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Genetic testing has been a hot topic in the news lately. People are starting to use genetic test information to chart the course for disease prevention with their health care professionals. For women with ovarian cancer, and their family members, the subject is of particular importance.
“As many as 23 per cent of women with ovarian cancer have an inherited genetic mutation,” says Dr. Lesa Dawson, Gynecologic Oncologist, Women’s Health and Genetics, Memorial University of Newfoundland. “This means that an error, similar to a spelling mistake, is found in genes such as BRCA 1 or 2. Identifying these mutations can be helpful to a woman’s future treatment, and can also give her family members the opportunity to pursue testing themselves and determine if their own cancer risk is elevated.”
Dr. Dawson’s research is focused on cancer prevention in women with certain gene mutations. To help explain the role of genes in disease development and prevention, she hand selected a line-up of speakers to support the following webinars:
- Cancer Genetics: What you need to know
- Everything you want to know about genetic testing
- Cancer prevention and screening in BRCA carriers
BRCA gene mutations are involved in most cases of hereditary ovarian cancer. While all women have BRCA genes, when these genes develop a mutation they can increase a woman’s risk for ovarian cancer up to 60 per cent.
“As there is no reliable screening test for ovarian cancer, genetic testing is a way to identify people who are at high risk before they develop the disease. From there, we can provide health advice based on the kind of gene mutation that’s found,” says Dr. Dawson. “For instance, if a woman with ovarian cancer is found to carry a BRCA gene mutation, her daughter can be tested. If positive, it means that she is at increased risk for both ovarian cancer and breast cancer, so we’d have an informed discussion about how she might reduce risk for ovarian cancer and we’d recommend intensive screening for breast cancer.”
“The GOC and our partners, including Ovarian Cancer Canada, are working to ensure that every woman with ovarian cancer, regardless of her family history, has access to genetic testing,” she adds. “Our most pressing priority is to ensure that ‘No Woman is Left Behind’ when it comes to genetic testing because understanding your genetics can enable risk reduction for your family, and potentially target treatment.”