Are You At Risk?

Introduction CCRA logo

1 in 9 women will develop breast cancer by age 85. Most times, women get breast cancer by chance. However, between 5-10% of women develop breast cancer because of hereditary factors. The goals of the Massachussetts General Hospital Breast & Ovarian Cancer Genetics & Risk Assessment Program are:

To help educate men and women about family history as a risk factor for breast cancer or ovarian cancer and to reduce anxiety surrounding the issue

To help men and women who have a family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer to better understand their risk

To help those who are at high risk to better manage their risk

To explain the role and the limitations of genetic testing

Some breast and ovarian cancer is caused by genes that can be passed from parents to children

Not all individuals with a family history of breast cancer or ovarian cancer are at an increased risk for breast cancer. Breast cancer is a very common disease, affecting 12.5% of women in the United States. It is less common in men but it does occur. Therefore, it is not unusual to have a family member who has been affected by breast cancer.

Breast cancer in one family member that is not the result of genetics but rather coincidental, does not increase the risk of breast cancer for other family members. On the other hand, 10% of breast and ovarian cancer is hereditary, i.e. cancer caused by mutated genes inherited from a parent. If a man or woman has hereditary breast or ovarian cancer, then other family members are at high risk. Women who inherit a mutated genes have a high likelihood of developing breast or ovarian cancer and possibly other cancers at a young age. Men who inherit mutated genes can pass them along to their children and may be at increased risk of cancer also. It is important to identify individuals who may have inherited these genes, since they need to begin cancer screening at an early age and monitored closely. The question we need to answer is: "How do we identify individuals with hereditary cancer?"

Characteristics of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer

Hereditary cancer families normally have some or all of the following characteristics:

multiple relatives with breast or ovarian cancer

young age at diagnosis

multiple cancers in one individual

multiple generations

However, all hereditary cancer families will not have all of these characteristics. In general, the more relatives affected and the younger they were when diagnosed, the greater the chance that this is hereditary cancer.

Next Section: Why Is Family History Important?

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