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By Mayo Clinic staffMutations to either BRCA1 or BRCA2 — the breast cancer genes — significantly increase your risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer when compared with the cancer risk of a woman without a BRCA gene mutation. How much higher your risk of these cancers is depends on a number of other factors, including your age and the ages at which women in your family developed breast cancer or ovarian cancer.
You might be at increased risk of having a BRCA gene mutation — and a candidate for BRCA gene testing — if you have:
- A personal history of breast cancer diagnosed at a young age (premenopausal), breast cancer affecting both breasts (bilateral breast cancer), or both breast and ovarian cancers
- A family history of breast cancer at a young age in two or more close relatives, such as your parents, siblings and children
- A family history of breast cancer in more than one generation
- A male relative with breast cancer
- A family member who has both breast and ovarian cancers
- A family member with bilateral breast cancer
- A frequent occurrence of ovarian cancer within your family
- A positive BRCA1 or BRCA2 genetic test in a relative
- Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish ancestry, with or without a family history of breast or ovarian cancer
- Peshkin BN, et al. Patient information: Genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Oct. 17, 2008.
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Genetic risk assessment and BRCA mutation testing for breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility: Recommendation statement. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2005;143:355.
- The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Elective and risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy. Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2008;111:231.
- Genetic testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2: It's your choice. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/BRCA. Accessed Oct. 22, 2008.
- Cancer facts and figures 2008. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/2008CAFFfinalsecured.pdf. Accessed Oct. 17, 2008.
- Brown KL, et al. Genetic counseling for breast cancer risk: General concepts, challenging themes and future directions. Breast Disease. 2006-2007;27:69.
- Lindor NM, et al. Concise handbook of familial cancer susceptibility syndromes - Second edition. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs. 2008;38:1.
- Rebbeck TR, et al. Bilateral prophylactic mastectomy reduces breast cancer risk in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers: The PROSE study group. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2004;22:1055.
- Finch A, et al. Salpingo-oophorectomy and the risk of ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancers in women. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2006;296:185.
