The British army is under fire for having almost rejected a teenager on the grounds she has relatives with breast cancer.
Carys Holmes, 17, was initially told she couldn’t join because she has an “extensive” family history of the disease, the BBC reports.
The army has since claimed her rejection was a “mistake” and has allowed Holmes to continue with her application.
Holmes’ mother and aunt have both developed breast cancer, with her aunt tragically dying from the disease. Her mother is currently recieving treatment.
Both had a gene mutation known as BRCA1 that increases the risk of developing cancers including breast cancer.
Holmes has not been tested for the fault, but there’s a “50-50” chance she also carries it, according to the BBC.
BRCA1 significantly increases a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer — a risk that also increases with age.
Holmes initially tried to appeal the decision, arguing that her chance of developing breast cancer before the age of 30 would be about 1.9% with the fault, and 0.1% without it.
But this appeal was rejected.
Women who have inherited BRCA1 have a 55-72% chance of developing breast cancer by the age of 70-80, according to US National Cancer Institute.
Women generally have a 13% chance of developing breast cancer over their lifetime.
“Having this gene doesn’t guarantee she’s going to get breast cancer,” her mother Rachel told the BBC.
“And even if she did have the gene, she can take steps against that.”
Women at a heightened genetic risk of breast cancer may take preventative measures to protect themselves against the disease.
Around a decade ago, actress Angelina Jolie famously had a preemptive double mastectomy because of her cancer risk.
Although Army recruitment literature doesn’t specifically mention breast cancer risk, it does say applicants can be rejected on the grounds of some family-linked disorders.
Nonetheless, Holmes case has caused outrage in her home country.
A lawyer told the BBC the decision to reject Holmes was unusual and could have been considered discriminatory in the basis of sex.
Men can also develop breast cancer, and their risk is also higher when they have the BRCA1 mutation. It still remains comparatively low, however, with a 2022 study finding the fault increased men’s risk to 0.4% by the time they reach 80. This is a four-fold increase on men in general.
Lawyer Emma Norton from the Centre for Military Justice said: “If the Army is operating a blanket policy of automatically excluding applications from all women who have a history of breast cancer in their family, that would appear, on the face of it, to be unlawful because it is discriminatory and may even amount to a human-rights violation.”
The Army later told Holmes her application was being reviewed and, after the BBC published its story, that an error had been made and she was still being recruited.
A spokesperson told the outlet: “Following a review of her case, it was concluded that she was wrongly told that she had been rejected as medically unfit.”
Calling the rejection “a process mistake,” they added: “Whilst a candidate may be referred to occupational physicians for their case to be reviewed, a candidate who presents with the BRCA1 gene would not routinely be rejected from joining the Army.”
Holmes, who had already passed her fitness and cognitive tests before being rejected, will now start basic army training in October.
