Categories of Q&A
Prevention
Risk
Genetics & Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer in Men
Myths
Signs & Symptoms
Breast Cancer Screening
Diagnosis
Treatment
Side Effects
Side Effects on Sex & Intimacy
Integrative & Alternative Medicine
Health for Women
Q&A for Survivors
 The magazine on:

  • Women's health
     
  • Breast health
     
  • Breast cancer
Read for free.
Click here.


Mother’s Family History and Risk  

Does only your mother’s family history of breast cancer affect your risk?

No. A history of breast cancer in your mother's OR your father's family will influence your risk equally. The reason is that half of your genes come from your mother, and half from your father.

A man with a breast cancer gene abnormality is less likely to develop breast cancer than is a woman with a similar gene abnormality. Therefore, if you want to learn more about your father's family history of breast cancer and breast cancer gene abnormalities, you have to look mainly at the women on your father's side, not just the men.

For those women who have a family history of breast cancer, their risk may be elevated considerably, slightly, or not at all, compared to women without a family history of breast cancer. The nature of the family history is one of the factors determining the degree of risk. For example, if a woman has a first-degree female relative (mother, daughter, sister) who had breast cancer, the woman's risk of getting breast cancer is about twice as high as the risk in women lacking a first-degree female relative who had breast cancer.

If a woman is concerned about her family history of breast cancer, she should discuss it with her physician or a genetic counselor. She may be worrying needlessly.



Questions Related to Mother’s Family History and Risk
Does breast cancer only affect older women?
If you have a risk factor for breast cancer, are you likely to get the disease?
If breast cancer doesn't run in your family, are you assured of not getting it?
Does using antiperspirants cause breast cancer?
Is a monthly breast self-exam the best way to detect breast cancer?
I’m at high risk for breast cancer. I've heard that there is nothing I can do about it. Is this true?
Is a breast cancer diagnosis an automatic death sentence?
Does breastfeeding if you have a breast tumor increase your child’s risk of cancer?
Does wearing an underwire bra cause breast cancer?
Can mammograms cause cancer?
My 13-year-old daughter got hit in the chest with a soccer ball during a game. Could the bruise to her breast increase her chances of getting breast cancer in the future?
Will external radiation therapy make me radioactive?

Page 1 of 1
   | 1 |


 

is a trademark of HC Search Corporation.