Assessing Risk for Ovarian and Breast Cancers
You are probably familiar with at least some of the risk factors for breast and ovarian cancer such as family history, age and reproductive history. You also may have heard about the discovery of certain genes that contribute to cancer. But how do these factors add up for you? Are you at an increased risk for cancer? Is there a gene involved in your personal and/or family history of cancer?
What a person understands about their health risks impacts their decisionmaking when it comes to treatment options. Genetic testing and counseling for ovarian cancer and breast cancer risk is available and offers many benefits, including implementing preventative treatment options and/or lifestyle changes that can reduce risk.
“We can only help the patients who get to us,” says Susan Domchek, MD, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Cancer Risk Evaluation Program and breast medical oncologist at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania. “A patient should talk to her primary care physician and become familiar with the benefits of genetic testing. By being aware of the potential for cancer risk, these patients can seek genetic counseling, and get the assistance they might not otherwise receive.”
Candidates for Evaluation
Patients who should be considered for breast cancer risk evaluation include those:
• Diagnosed with female breast cancer under age 40
• Diagnosed with male breast cancer
• With a family history of breast and ovarian cancer
• With two or more close family members with the disease
• Of Ashkenazi Jewish descent
“Genetic testing is appropriate for both patients who have had cancer as well as those as yet unaffected,” says Dr. Domchek. “In women who have had breast cancer and possess the BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 mutation, the risk of developing ovarian cancer can increase up to 50 percent, in which case removal of their ovaries may be a management strategy. Similarly, for women who have not yet had cancer but possess these gene mutations, removal of their ovaries will decrease the chance of ovarian cancer by 90 percent and reduce the risk of breast cancer by 50 percent.”
For some patients, there is also an increased risk for colon and pancreatic cancer as well as other forms of cancer. “The important thing for patients to realize is that we act on this information,” says Dr. Domchek. “There are real things that patients can do to limit their risks once they are aware that they exist.”
About Penn’s Cancer Risk Evaluation Program: |
Designed for women and men who want information about their risk for breast, ovarian and gastrointestinal cancers, the Cancer
Risk Evaluation Program is a clinical and research program that can help both patients with cancer and individuals at an increased risk for cancer. The program will:
• Help you understand the risk factors involved.
• Talk with you about your personal concerns.
• Review your family history, medical history and lifestyle risk factors.
• Talk to you about genetic testing and assist in your decision about this option.
• Provide a written summary of your level of risk.
• Outline a plan for continued monitoring to help you protect your health.
• Evaluate your eligibility to participate in research studies.
The program also provides information for individuals who have been diagnosed with cancer and want to know about the role of genetics in their diagnosis. Education and support programs are held throughout the year for individuals at high risk for cancer.
Throughout the process, Penn physicians, who are experts in cancer genetics, work closely with referring physicians, detailing the type(s) of testing that will occur and the results.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System offers counseling and risk evaluation at three locations; the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, the Joan Karnell Cancer Center at Pennsylvania Hospital and Penn Medicine at Radnor. |
For more information about Penn’s Cancer
Risk Evaluation Program or to make an appointment
call 1-800-789-PENN (7366).
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