Genetics
 Cancer of the breast is very common. American women have a one in eight chance of developing breast cancer during their lifetime. The risk, however, is much higher for those women who have other family members with these types of cancer.
It has been recently shown that mutations, or changes, in two cancer susceptibility genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2 increase a woman's risk to develop both breast and ovarian cancer. 85 percent of women with a mutation in one of these genes will develop breast cancer by the time they are 70 years old and up to 40 percent will develop ovarian cancer. The onset of these cancers is typically earlier for those individuals with mutations in one of these susceptibility genes.
Although breast cancer is rare in men, they too have an increased risk associated with these gene mutations.
It is now possible to detect mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2. However, testing is not indicated for everyone. This test is intended for individuals thought to be at high risk of breast and ovarian cancer based on their family history, or because they themselves developed breast cancer at an early age.
The Cancer Risk Assessment team at the Breast Center at SIU is comprised of clinical geneticists and genetics counselors with expertise in breast cancer genetics.
The guidelines used by the Breast Center at SIU state that patients will be offered the option of genetic counseling and testing if the family history reveals one or more of the following:
- Diagnosis of breast cancer before age 40
- Diagnosis of ovarian cancer at any age
- Family history of breast cancer before age 50, or ovarian cancer
- First degree relative with known mutation
- Diagnosis of male breast cancer or relative with male breast cancer
- Susceptible ethnic background (Ashkenazi Jewish)
Click here to send questions or comments about this site via e-mail.
|
