Learn about your risk for cancer, before you get it.

About 10% of breast cancers are hereditary and may be a result of a genetic mutation in the BRCA genes. These mutations can be inherited from either your mother's or father's side of the family. If a person has one these mutations they will be at a much higher statistical risk of breast and ovarian cancer. In some cases a carrier can have a 80% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer.

For those women deemed to be at an increased risk of having a BRCA mutation, genetic testing is now available through a simple blood test.

The following scenarios might indicate an increased risk of having the BRCA mutation:

• Breast cancer in two or more close relatives.
• Having breast cancer before the age of 50, or ovarian cancer at any age.
• Early onset of breast cancer in family members, often before age 50
.

• History of breast cancer in more than one generation
.

• Cancer in both breasts in one or more family members.


• Occurrence of ovarian cancer
in other family members especially at a young age.

 BRCA testing may also be appropriate in women who already have had surgery for breast cancer. If they had a lumpectomy and are found to have the BRCA mutation this can place them at increased risk of cancer in either breast. If they had a mastectomy they can have an increased risk of cancer in the remaining breast. With a BRCA mutation they would have an increased risk of ovarian cancer, and family members may want to be tested as well to see if they have the mutation.