Over the past couple of years, we have heard so much about the BRCA genes and the role they play in passing cancer down from one generation to the next.
But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is located in Atlanta, approximately 200 miles east of Huntsville, wants you to know: Hereditary breast and ovarian cancers are rare.
BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA1/2) are genes that normally protect you from getting certain cancers.
Women who inherit a change in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene have a much higher risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer. But, important steps can be taken to help lower the risk for cancer in these women.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women, affecting about 200,000 women in the United States each year. About seven out of 100 women will get breast cancer by age 70 compared to one out of 100 women who will get ovarian cancer by the same age. While ovarian cancer is less common, experts say it is much harder to detect and often more serious.
Only about 5 - 10 percent of breast and ovarian cancers are considered to be hereditary. These cancers are the result of inherited changes in single major genes, such as the breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. Hereditary cancers often affect several family members and occur at young ages.
Your risk of developing these cancers may be increased by aging, the environment, and lifestyle.
However, according to the CDC, you may be at increased risk of inheriting changes in the BRCA1/2 genes if your family history includes one or more of the following:
- Several relatives with either breast or ovarian cancer
- Breast cancer at a young age (under 50)
- A relative with cancer of both breasts
- A relative who had both breast and ovarian cancer
- A male relative with breast cancer
- Ashkenazi Jewish Ancestry and any relative with breast or ovarian cancer
- A relative with a known BRCA1/2 genetic change
Note that not everyone who inherits a BRCA1/2 change will get breast or ovarian cancer. For more on this subject, including whether or not you should consider genetic testing, click here. You can also visit the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Web site.
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