Cancer in a family 

Cancer is a difficult illness, especially if the diagnosis is done when the disease is already advanced making the treatment difficult.

In a family, where a mother or a grandmother had breast cancer, there might be fears that the disease is hereditary and could come to affect their children in the future.

If that is your case, it is important to note than the large majority of breast cancer cases are NOT hereditary. Most cases are sporadic (or occasional) breast cancers.

Even in a family with 2 or more cases of breast cancer, these might be sporadic cases emerging in the same family by sheer coincidence. 

Only a very small number of families have familial cancer, this means that their members show a higher propensity to develop breast and/or ovarian cancer than the general population.

Among these, an even smaller small number has hereditary familial breast cancer. 

Learn more about these types of cancer in the section Cancer biology > Sporadic vs Familial .

WHY TALK ABOUT FAMILIAL CANCER?

Even if rare, when it occurs familial cancers carry serious implications for the future of a family and its members, especially if they are hereditary.

A woman with a change in the BRAC1 gene, for example, not only has a considerably high risk of developing breast cancer but also of passing it to her children causing high distress in the whole family.

So although these cases are rare, this section is especially for those dealing with the anxiety of a possible familial cancer.

In this section you will be able to better understand your family history (concerning breast or ovarian cancer), and build your own cancer history using our application.

You will also be able to understand what is a genetic test and what it is used for. However, the first step before any decision should be to discuss the test and its implications with your family doctor .