10-04-2025
Local stomach cancer survivor advocates for research funding
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A spark of curiosity about her family's history is what prompted Priscilla Brittine to search online for family members in Kansas City.
However, in the process, she got a message that would set up a chain of events that would save her life.
'Mija, you might want to know about this genetic mutation that runs in our family,' she said.
She went through testing at the University of Kansas Hospital and learned that she had a mutation called CDH1. That condition put her at an 80% chance of developing stomach cancer and a 60% chance of developing breast cancer.
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'This is my fate? This is what's going to happen to now me? No. I am putting a stop to this,' she explained.
Despite diagnostic testing showing no signs of cancer, she decided to make a bog decision and have her stomach removed. She was only in her early-thirties at the time.
'Really, I think it's because of what I went through prior (to) being young,' she said.
When she was just 14, Brittine lost her mother to stomach cancer.
'Nutrition was a main factor, she was always vomiting, throwing up, she was getting skinnier and I have three boys. It would kill me to know that they watched me go through what I did,' she said about her decision.
After surgery, more in-depth testing was done on her stomach. The results captured something an initial biopsy couldn't.
'Thank god you did what you did when you did it because you had beginning stages of stomach cancer.'
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Through her recovery journey, she found support in nonprofits like Debbie's Dream Foundation and Hope For Stomach Cancer. She's traveled to DC to meet with legislators, advocating for more funding for research.
'It saved my life; genetics saved my life; research saved my life,' she said.
Priscilla says that last year, she also had a double mastectomy and that genetic testing has saved other family members' lives. It's now her goal to get Union Station lit up in periwinkle in November.
She's raising funds for other survivors in the metro to go to DC with her to advocate and share their stories.
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