Could your cancer be hereditary?
*reposting this blog for the benefit of new members - apologies to those who have seen it before but I think it is very important information*
Ovarian cancer can be caused by changes in genes called 'hereditary mutations'. These gene changes can be passed down from the mother or the father to daughters or sons and cause cancer to run in the family.
One out of every eight women with ovarian cancer carries a hereditary mutation.
If you or any family member has had:
~ ovarian or fallopian tube cancer at any age
~ breast cancer at age 50 or younger
~ breast cancer in both breasts at any age
~ both breast and ovarian cancer or both colon and ovarian cancer
~ male breast cancer
and if more than one family member on the same side of the family has had any of these cancers:
~ breast cancer
~ ovarian or fallopian tube cancer
~ uterine cancer
~ colon cancer
~ prostate cancer
~ pancreatic cancer
See a genetics expert, visit the FORCE website www.facingourrisk.org , contact me for further information or use MacMillan's online tool Opera to check your risk: www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancer...
If you test positive for a gene mutation, there are options available for you and your family members to lower cancer risk.