Could your cancer be hereditary?

[sharonforce]

*reposting this blog for the benefit of new members - apologies to those who have seen it before but I think it is very important information*

Ovarian cancer can be caused by changes in genes called 'hereditary mutations'. These gene changes can be passed down from the mother or the father to daughters or sons and cause cancer to run in the family.

One out of every eight women with ovarian cancer carries a hereditary mutation.

If you or any family member has had:

~ ovarian or fallopian tube cancer at any age

~ breast cancer at age 50 or younger

~ breast cancer in both breasts at any age

~ both breast and ovarian cancer or both colon and ovarian cancer

~ male breast cancer

and if more than one family member on the same side of the family has had any of these cancers:

~ breast cancer

~ ovarian or fallopian tube cancer

~ uterine cancer

~ colon cancer

~ prostate cancer

~ pancreatic cancer

See a genetics expert, visit the FORCE website facingourrisk.org , contact me for further information or use MacMillan's online tool Opera to check your risk: macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinfo...

If you test positive for a gene mutation, there are options available for you and your family members to lower cancer risk.

[hil65wil]

Is this the BRCA 1 and 2 gene. If so I have been tested and found not to have these faulty genes. Or is it other genes too?

Hilary

[sharonforce in reply to hil65wil]

Yes, BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 are the most well known genetic mutations. There are other genetic conditions for example Lynch syndrome, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, Li-Fraumeni syndrome but these are much less common. if you have tested negative for BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 but have a very high frequency of cancer in your family it may be worth investigating the other genetic conditions.

best wishes

Sharon

[hil65wil]

Thanks for your reply Sharon.

When I saw Prof Evans at Manchester Royal some years ago he seemed to think it was highly unlikely it was hereditary as my maternal grandmother and maternal aunt both had breast cancer late in life. There is no history of Ovarian so far as I am aware.

Best wishes

Hilary

[MargaretJ]

When my sister got breast cancer in 2011 I was tested but found not to carry the mutations despite two maternal uncles developing cancer and my maternal grandmother having died in her 40's probably from an abdominal cancer, possibly OC! I still developed a separate breast cancer in 2012! Sod's B law!

M

[MargaretJ]

Then again, at 72, it is probably just old age!

LOL,

M