We Are Family: Understanding Your Family History of Cancer

by Katy Henke

Family members share many things that can impact cancer risk: lifestyle choices, habits, physical environments and their genetic makeup. Of all of these, genetics can be particularly key.

Because of this, it’s important to understand your family history of cancer and how it may impact your risk for the disease. Some types of family history and related genetic mutations can greatly increase the risk of certain cancers, while other types can have an impact similar to common lifestyle risk factors - like being overweight.

So, take the opportunity over the holidays to talk with your family members about their health history. Jennifer Ivanovich, MS, MBA, CGC, a board certified clinical cancer genetic counselor at Siteman Cancer Center and Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Public Health Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine, recommends asking some of the following questions:

• Has anyone in the family had cancer?

• If so, where did the cancer start or what was the specific cancer type?

• About what age was the person diagnosed? 

• Has the family member had genetic testing and, if so, what were the specific results? (Having a copy of the genetic testing results is always helpful).

There are many tools available to help chart your family health history. A doctor or genetic counselor is the the best source for understanding your family history of the disease and how it may affect your risk.

If your family history or genetics puts you at increased risk, your doctor may recommend special steps that can help you reduce or manage that risk.

A healthy lifestyle also remains important for people with a family history of cancer. While you cannot change your genes, shifting to healthier behaviors, such as quitting smoking and keeping weight in check, can improve your overall health and lower the risk of cancer and other important diseases.

Knowing that cancer runs in your family offers a great opportunity to focus on prevention. For tips on lowering cancer risk, check out  8IGHT WAYS to Stay Healthy and Prevent Cancer. Start with one or two changes, and build from there.

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To learn your risk for common diseases, visit Your Disease Risk calculator.

For more resources on family history, visit the CDC’s Family Health History website or the Surgeon General’s My Family Health Portrait website.

Photo: Pen to Paper by Dwayne Bent (CC License, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Practical Steps to Prevent Breast Cancer: Day 8 - Find Out Your Family History

It's day eight in our nine day series highlighting key steps and practical tips that can help women lower their risk of breast cancer. Previous days.

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Day 8 - Find Out Your Family History

Women with a strong family history of breast cancer can take special steps to protect themselves, so it’s important for women to know their family history of breast and other cancers. You may be at high risk of breast cancer if you have a mother or sister who developed breast or ovarian cancer (especially at an early age) or if you have multiple family members (including males) who developed breast, ovarian and/or prostate cancer. A doctor or genetic counselor can help you understand your family history of the disease.  A doctor is also the best source of information on ways to lower or manage your breast cancer risk.

Tips and Tricks – Family History

Learn your family history. Most women will have a general idea of their family history of breast cancer, but it’s a good idea to spend a little time to get a more detailed idea of your cancer history, especially if it’s pretty clear that breast or other cancers run in your family.  A doctor or genetic counselor can help.

Keep things in perspective. Most women with a family history of breast cancer are not at high risk of the disease. In most instances, family history behaves on par with many other breast cancer risk factors. Of course, women with a very strong family history (multiple family members with cancer or inherited BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations) have a very strong risk of breast cancer. But even these situations don’t guarantee a woman will develop the disease.

Next Steps – Family History

Looking for more in-depth information on family history? Here are some good sources:

US Surgeon General
http://goo.gl/VTT2yU

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://goo.gl/c2iNuO

Photo: Family Walk by Thomas Leth-Olsen (CC License, CC BY 2.0)