Teen Launches Campaign to Spread Awareness of Hereditary Cancer

By JACQUELINE PRIMO | Reporter

Casey Longstreet, a 16-year-old junior at Palisades Charter High School, said she remembers the day three years ago when she was pulled out of class (while in eighth grade at Paul Revere Charter Middle School) and told her brother, 10-year-old Tanner Longstreet, had been diagnosed with brain cancer.

Tanner had brain surgery a few days later to remove a malignant glioblastoma brain tumor, and it was discovered that Tanner had a hereditary cancer gene called the mutant p53 gene. The gene can compromise tumor suppression and lead to the formation of many types of cancer.

“The cancer was still in his body even though they got the tumor out,” Casey told the Palisadian-Post in an interview over Strawberry Acai Refreshers at Starbucks in the Village on a hot day in early September.

Casey said Tanner was diagnosed on Sept. 10, 2012—almost exactly three years earlier to the day.

Tanner underwent chemotherapy treatments that proved ineffective and he succumbed to the cancer in May 2013.

As a result of Tanner’s diagnosis, Casey said she and her family were tested for the mutant p53 gene and both Casey and her father tested positive for it.

“I have over a 90-percent chance of getting different types of cancer,” Casey said, adding that she now has to have brain and body scans twice a year, ultrasounds every few months and blood tests once a month to make sure she doesn’t have cancer.

Now, Casey has started what she calls an “educational/social media campaign” called Genome Generation to spread awareness about the connection between genetics and hereditary diseases, including cancer.

“Genome Generation is the first step in my generation’s journey to be proactive, to live the longest and healthiest life possible and to know one’s family history. I hope my website will encourage conversation among my peers to be as proactive as they can be when it comes to their health,” Casey said.

On the Genome Generation website at genomegeneration.com, users can print and fill out a family tree to know and understand the health history of their family.

Users identify their biological family members who have a history of hereditary disease, including cancer, to get a better idea of which diseases they may be more likely to inherit.

Casey said she knows her brother’s cancer diagnosis and passing may one day save her life, because she now knows her own risk for the disease.

“He changed my life. He made me a better person,” Casey said, adding that she and her brother were very close and shared a lot of inside jokes.

“I loved having a little brother. I loved being an older sister.”

Still, while Casey will always be grieving the loss of her kid brother, she is incredibly optimistic, bright and does not let anything get in her way.

“I live my life as a normal 16-year-old,” she said.

In addition to taking two AP classes at Pali High, two Honors classes and two online classes, Casey works at Sweet Rose Creamery (favorite flavor: salted caramel) and is a competitive dancer on the senior competition team at 8 Count Dance Academy in West LA.

“I love [dancing]. It’s one of my favorite things to do,” Casey said, adding that dancing was like therapy for her while her brother was undergoing cancer treatments.

Casey hopes to work in the oncology unit of Child Life Services when she grows up, helping to keep young cancer patients and their siblings at ease and having fun while they’re in the hospital.

Her advice for other young people going through a tough time?

“You can get through it, even if it’s difficult.”