If someone in my family has breast cancer, will I get it too?
If there is a malignant tumor in the family, will a woman’s risk of breast cancer increase? Will women with a family history definitely develop breast cancer? How to prevent breast cancer? Breast surgery experts Li Hongsheng and Zhou Jie from the Cancer Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University answered the questions one by one.
Maternal and first-degree relatives have a higher risk of family history
“Family history of breast cancer” refers to a first- or second-degree relative with a history of cancer in the family. First-degree relatives include parents, brothers, sisters, and children; while second-degree relatives include grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. “Familial breast cancer” refers to breast cancer in which two or more blood-related members of a family suffer from breast cancer, showing a certain familial aggregation of breast cancer. “Hereditary breast cancer” refers to those who carry mutations in genes associated with genetic susceptibility to breast cancer (such as the BRCA gene). Hereditary breast cancer accounts for 55%-60% of familial breast cancer, and the rest is caused by non-genetic factors, such as the same eating habits, life stress, personality characteristics, and emotional state.
Generally speaking, maternal family history (such as grandma, aunt) has a higher risk than paternal family history (such as grandma, aunt); first-degree relatives (such as sisters, mothers, daughters) than second-degree relatives (such as grandma, aunt, etc.) Aunts, cousins) are at higher risk.
Do early screening and change bad lifestyle
According to experts, the more number of immediate relatives suffering from breast cancer, the greater the risk of the disease. If there is an immediate relative with breast cancer, the risk of the disease increases by 1.5-3 times; if there are two immediate relatives with breast cancer, the prevalence will increase by 7 times; hereditary breast cancer genes are tested for BRCA1 and BRCA2 Patients with gene mutations have an increased risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and other malignant tumors. For BRCA1 mutation carriers, the cumulative risk of breast cancer is 55%-70% when they are ≤70 years old, and the corresponding cumulative risk for BRCA2 mutation carriers is 45%. %-70%; although the above data show that women with a family history of breast cancer are twice as likely to develop breast cancer, clinically, women with a family history of breast cancer do not necessarily develop breast cancer. According to relevant statistics, only 15%-20% of female breast cancer patients have a family history.
For women with a family history of breast cancer, that is, women with any of the following are high-risk groups for breast cancer and should pay close attention to breast health and increase the frequency of screening appropriately: first-degree relatives (mother, daughter, and sister) have breast cancer or History of ovarian cancer; among second-degree relatives (aunt, aunt, grandmother, and maternal grandmother), 2 or more were diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 50; among second-degree relatives, 2 or more were diagnosed with ovarian cancer before the age of 50; at least 1 first-degree relative Relatives carry known pathogenic genetic mutations in the BRCA1/2 gene, or they themselves carry pathogenic genetic mutations in the BRCA1/2 gene.
In addition, in addition to a small number of breast cancers that are clearly caused by hereditary BRCA gene mutations, some unhealthy lifestyles are also high-risk factors for inducing breast cancer. Such as obesity, smoking, drinking, lack of exercise, etc. In addition, staying up late for a long time, long-term stress, excessive negative emotions, etc. can also lead to hormone level disorders and endocrine disorders in the body, as well as long-term use of estrogen-containing cosmetics and birth control pills, etc. , will increase the risk of breast cancer. Therefore, bad lifestyle needs to be changed.
