Family history should not be overlooked when planning the treatment and management of a patient with cancer. Medical genetics is an important part of the cancer program team. Approximately 5-10 percent of all breast, ovarian and colon cancer is hereditary.
Characteristics of hereditary cancer include:
- Cancer under the age of 50
- Bilateral cancers or multiple primaries in the same individual
- Associated cancers such as breast and ovarian or colon and uterine cancer
- Multiple affected family members in multiple generations
Ethnic background may be important as well. Both maternal and paternal family histories are relevant.
Families with a suggestive hereditary pattern may have a changed gene (or mutation) as the cause of the cancer. Examining the patient's genetic code, or DNA, may identify these genetic changes.
Increased risk requires a reorganization of the patient's management plan that may include heightened surveillance, chemoprevention and/or risk reducing surgery. There is also a 50-percent chance that the genetic mutation will be passed on to each of the patient's children. Those children who carry a mutation are then able to seek early surveillance and preventive treatment to hopefully avoid cancer as adults.
Genetic consultation consists of reviewing a detailed family history, discussing the principles of hereditary cancer and completing an individual risk assessment for a hereditary cancer syndrome. Patients considering testing receive information regarding the risks, benefits and limitations of genetic analysis.
All cancer consultation sessions and test results are confidential. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 330-363-4163.
