My Grandmother On My Dads Side Had Breast Cancer. How Much At Risk Am I And How Can A I Start Preventing It?
I know to feel my boobs. But what are some things I can eat or do to decrease my risk? I would really like to start trying to prevent it now.
From the information you give here, you’re not at any increased risk of breast cancer.
Hereditary breast cancer is rare – only 5 – 10% of cases. And breast cancer diagnosed after the age of 50 is even less likely to be hereditary.
If your grandmother is the only one in your family to have had breast cancer, it isn’t hereditary.
A sign that breast cancer MAY be hereditary is when several members of the same side of the family have had it, especially if some developed it at a younger than usual age. In those circumstances, testing for one of the rare inherited faulty genes would be considered appropriate.
I gather from your Q&A that you’re a teenager. If so, there is no need to be doing breast self-examination; it will tell you nothing and will worry you needlessly.
The American Cancer Society and other cancer organisations recommend that women begin breast self examination at no younger than 20. Before that it’s pointless; firstly because there are so many hormonal changes that there is no ‘normal’ – and self examination is about a woman knowing what’s normal for her and reporting any changes. And secondly because the chance of breast cancer is almost nil – it’s almost unknown in under 25s (and fewer than 0.1% of those diagnosed are under 30, and only 5% under 40).
There isn’t anything that reduces the risk of breast cancer. Among the known risk factors for breast cancer the only avoidable ones are overweight (especially after the menopause), and regularly drinking more than one unit of alcohol a day. These are risk factors though, NOT causes, and most women who tick one or both of those boxes do not develop breast cancer.
You are in an age group where breast cancer is pretty much unknown, and it doesn’t appear to be hereditary in your family. Stop worrying about it, begin breast self-examination at the appropriate age and attend your routine mammograms when you reach the appropriate age.
Only a small percentage of breast cancers are inherited and 85% of women who get breast cancer have no genetic link. If it is inherited, it can be from either your mother’s or your father’s side. But chances are your grandmother’s cancer was not genetic, especially if she was the only woman on your father’s side to get it.
You can find information on how to manual breast exams at the website for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Well, you are not at very high risk, but breast cancer is on the rise for a multitude of reasons that are not necessarily related to genetics. Breast cancer is on the rise for a lot of reasons that we do not fully understand.
Keeping your weight under control, eating flax fiber and broccoli and getting plenty of exercise are great ways to keep your risk down. There is also a simple test that determines your ratio of good to bad estrogen that can help you to measure your risk. Their is a compilation of research about all of this below.