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Old 11-25-2014, 09:27 PM   #2
rhondalea
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Somerset, NJ
Posts: 487
Re: No Travel Required - KRAS-Variant Mutation and Breast Cancer

I'm very unhappy with Joanne Weidhaas.

I participated in the original study (all related correspondence available upon request) for which she recruited through the Army of Women. At the end, she scheduled a webinar to present results, but the Army of Women cancelled it.

The reason the Army of Women cancelled the webinar is the reason for my distress. Joanne sent an advertising email from her "non-profit foundation" to each of the participants offering to sell them their DNA results for the "nominal" fee of $295. This was a violation of the terms of her agreement with the Army of Women, but worse, it really took advantage of the women who freely gave of their time and genetic material.

This was the text of the AoW cancellation notice:

"You may have received an advertisement to purchase your individual KRAS-variant test results from a CLIA certified laboratory from the non-profit group, MiraKind, or a for-profit company, MiraDx. This test was included as part of a research study through the Army of Women®. Our agreement with the researchers who use the Army of Women® specifically precludes them from reaching out to our members separate from the research. We do not know what the results of the KRAS test mean clinically, and at this time this study has not been published, so it has not been subjected to scientific scrutiny. As a result, we have decided to cancel the research webinar scheduled for Wednesday, March 26th 2014."

Speaking as one who has been genotyped and who is currently having her full genome sequenced, there is nothing "nominal" about $295 for those results. I grind my teeth every time I think about that woman.

If you are thinking about participating, at least do a little googling to see what the literature has to say about the KRAS-variant. IMO, she's beating a dead horse and has been for some time.
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4/14/11 Core needle biopsy: negative for cancer
5/18/11 Excisional biopsy 1.2 cm tumor, LVI, positive margin; ER+60%,PR+20%,HER2/CEP17 5
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