Comedian Michelle Brasier says genetic testing shows 97% chance of developing cancer
Brasier, who lost her father and brother to cancer, wrote that a doctor flagged 'suspected Lynch syndrome' after testing and told her she faces a high lifetime risk
Melbourne-based comedian and writer Michelle Brasier said a doctor told her she has a 97% chance of developing cancer after genetic testing, a risk she attributed in a published memoir excerpt to "suspected Lynch syndrome."
Brasier wrote that her father died of cancer when she was 18 and that her brother later died after a short battle with bowel cancer, descriptions she said prompted her to seek genetic counselling and testing to assess the family risk.
In the piece published Sept. 16, Brasier described being told by a doctor that there was a clinical suspicion of Lynch syndrome, an inherited condition that affects DNA repair and is associated with higher risks of several cancers. She wrote that the doctor told her she had a 97% chance of developing one of a range of cancers, naming stomach, bowel, ovarian, breast and pancreatic cancers.
Brasier discussed the personal history that led to testing, recounting that she had recently been released from hospital after treatment for injuries from a house fire when her family received the first cancer diagnosis, and that her father died a week after his illness was confirmed. She said her brother later developed bowel cancer and died after a short illness, which she described as the trigger for pursuing genetic counselling.
Writing about the results and her response, Brasier said the suspected diagnosis produced what she called a "sick motivation," and that knowledge of a high lifetime risk had changed how she approaches life and work. In the memoir excerpt she framed the testing and its implications alongside accounts of her career, her use of humour to process grief, and efforts to fast-track her work as a comedian and performer.
Brasier's memoir, My Brother's Ashes Are In A Sandwich Bag, was published by Ultimo Press. In the piece she dedicated the book to her brother and father and described an intensified focus on personal relationships and small daily pleasures following the test results. She also wrote that she will begin work in a major musical production in about a month.
The account published by the Daily Mail is a first-person memoir excerpt in which Brasier combined details of family history, the genetic-testing experience and reflections on living with an elevated cancer risk. She described contacting genetic services "just in case" family cancers indicated an inherited syndrome and said she pursued testing and counselling to understand her own outlook.
Brasier's comments add a personal account to ongoing public discussion about hereditary cancer syndromes and genetic testing, and follow a trend of public figures sharing experiences to raise awareness of family history and medical surveillance. Her memoir and the published excerpt focus on how genetic risk has informed her choices and perspectives rather than clinical details of tests or treatment plans.
The article containing Brasier's account was published Sept. 16. Brasier has spoken publicly about using humour in the face of grief and about the effect her family's losses had on her decision to seek genetic counselling; she declined in the excerpt to lay out medical next steps in detail, instead emphasizing the emotional and creative responses to the diagnosis and her plans for upcoming work.