Does Breast or Ovarian Cancer Run in Your Family?

If you have close relatives with breast or ovarian cancer, you may be at higher risk for developing these diseases. Does your family health history put you at higher risk? Would you benefit from cancer genetic counseling and testing?

Each year, over 200,000 women in the United States are diagnosed withbreast cancer and more than 20,000 are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. About 3% of breast cancers (about 6,000 women per year) and 10% of ovarian cancers (about 2,000 women per year) result from inherited mutations (changes) in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that are passed on in families. Inherited mutations in other genes can also cause breast and ovarian cancer, but BRCA1 and BRCA2 are the genes most commonly affected. Knowing your family health history can help you find out if you could be at higher risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer. If so, you can take steps to help lower your risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

Does Your Family Health History Put You At Risk?

Tell your doctor if you have a personal or family health history of any of the following:

Breast cancer at age 45 or younger in women
Breast cancer at age 46–50 in women and at least one close blood relative with breast cancer at any age or limited information about family history
Triple negative breast cancer at age 60 or younger in women (Triple negative cancers are a type of breast cancer that lack estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2))
Breast cancer at any age in men
Ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer
Cancer in both breasts
Pancreatic cancer or prostate cancer with Gleason score >7
Breast, ovarian, pancreatic, or prostate cancer among multiple blood relatives
Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish ancestry
A known BRCA mutation in the family

All women should collect and record their family health history of breast and ovarian cancer. You can inherit BRCA and other mutations from your mother or your father, so be sure to include information from both sides of your family. Close relatives include your parents, sisters, brothers, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren.

You can use the Know:BRCA tool to collect your family health history information, assess your risk for BRCA mutations, and share this information with your doctor. Update your family health history on a regular basis and let your doctor know if any new cases of breast or ovarian cancer occur.

What Can You Do If You Are Concerned About Your Risk?

If you are concerned that you might have an inherited mutation that increases your risk for breast and ovarian cancer, the first step is to talk to your doctor about your family health history and whether genetic counseling might be right for you. Your doctor may refer you to a genetic counselor or other qualified health care professional to discuss your family health history and to learn about your options for genetic testing.

The genetic counselor can use your family health history information to determine your possible cancer risks and whether you might consider BRCAgenetic testing to find out if you have a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. Genetic testing is most useful if first performed on someone in your family who has had breast or ovarian cancer. If this relative has a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, then her close relatives can be offered testing for that mutation. If she does not have a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, then her relatives may not need to be tested. Remember that most breast and ovarian cancer is not caused by BRCAmutations so most women don't need BRCA genetic testing.

The genetic counselor can discuss the pros and cons of testing and what possible test results could mean for you and your family. It is important to note that genetic testing for BRCA mutations will not find all causes of hereditary breast or ovarian cancer. In some cases, the genetic counselor might recommend genetic testing using a panel that looks for mutations in several genes in addition to BRCA1 and BRCA2. BRCA genetic counseling and testing is often, but not always, covered without cost sharing by many health plans under the Affordable Care Act.

Cancer risks for women
with BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations

Women who inherit a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene have a much higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. But, important steps can be taken to help lower the risk for cancer in these women. It’s important to know that not everyone who inherits aBRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation will get breast or ovarian cancer, and that not all inherited forms of breast or ovarian cancer are due to mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2.