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Concerns about Breast Cancer Family History Questions on genetics, family history & breast cancer. |
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| 9/5/2010 | Hello Lillie, I am the first person in my family on either side to have breast cancer. I do not have daughters--only 2 sons. I was wondering if this would make them more prone to BC--how about my future grandaughters ( I hope I have some )? | ||
| Replied | JHU's Breast Center Reply | ||
| 9/5/2010 | many factors to consider as to whether this increases their risk. if you are young, say in your 30s when diagnosed, then it can bump up their risk slightly (your sons i'm referring to) . but let's look at what their actual risk is to begin with. only 1% of people diagnosed with breast cancer are men. Even if your sons carried a gene for breast cancer (which is unlikely unless you carry a BRCA 1 or 2 gene and doesn't sound like your family history warrants testing for this) then a man's risk with a BRCA gene is still only 6%. so still very low. What has been seen however for young women diagnosed with breast cancer is that they may have brothers or sons who are diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier then men usually are. 1 in 6 men develop prostate cancer. usually they are diagnosed in their 70s or 80s. Some men with breast cancer premenopausally diagnosed in their family of a first degree relative may be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their 50s or 60s. And i too hope you have granddaughters and grandsons.... | ||
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