What is my inherited cancer risk
I want to know my risk of cancer
Knowledge is power and when it comes to your health, knowledge is everything.
That is why it is important that everyone knows their risk when it comes to inherited cancer.
Your personal and family history contributes to your risk.
What is inherited risk cancer?
Inherited cancer risk is cancer risk that is passed on through generations of a family via a gene mutation. The prevalence of carrying a gene mutation is detailed on this page.
We all have many different ‘cancer protection’ genes that control the growth and division of the cells in our bodies throughout our lives and stop normal functioning cells from developing into cancer.
However, changes or pathogenic variants in these cancer protection genes may cause cells to grow and divide in an uncontrolled way that becomes a tumour. For a cell to become cancerous, multiple changes must build up in a number of different ‘cancer protection’ genes within a cell over time.
Over time, as we age, our cancer protection genes accumulate changes that may increase the ‘burden’ or risk for developing cancer. If enough of these gene changes arise over time, the cell becomes cancerous (a ‘cancer cell’). This is the reason why the risk of cancer increases with age and most cancers occur in older people. The reason why these changes occur is thought to be a combination of genetic factors, environmental factors, and the process of aging.
People who have inherited a change in a cancer protection gene are more likely to have cancer develop in their lifetime compared to people who have not inherited this type of gene change. They often develop cancers at younger ages than the general population. This is because this gene change is present from birth and so their cells each start with a change in a cancer protection gene. This means that fewer additional changes need to happen to the cells’ protective genes for a cancer to develop.
The terms ‘gene mutations’, ‘gene faults’ and ‘gene changes’ are commonly used to describe inherited pathogenic variants in these cancer protection genes, and you may see and hear them used interchangeably.
How does my family health history impact my risk of cancer?
Family health factors that can affect your risk of cancer include a relative or multiple relatives:
- diagnosed with certain types of cancer
- with a known gene mutation
- with cancers occurring at young ages (e.g. before age 40 years for breast or before age 50 for ovarian cancer) with cancer in both breasts
- who are male with breast cancer
- who have had both breast and ovarian cancer
Also having an ethnic background from a population where some mutations are more common e.g. Eastern European (Ashkenazi) Jewish ancestry.
iPrevent is a breast cancer assessment tool you can use if you have any of these factors in your family history. It helps understand whether you or your family may benefit from an assessment by a family cancer centre. If you have not had cancer and have a family history of cancer, you can use this online risk assessment.
There are personal lifestyle factors that impact your risk of cancer .
How do I assess my family health history?
Our Family Health History Mapping Form is a simple tool to help you collect your family health history to discuss with your GP and understand more about your personal level of cancer risk.
The answers to these questions can help your GP assess your risk of cancer:
- Have you or any of your close relatives had cancer?
- What is their name, date of birth, what type of cancer did they have and how old were they when they were told they had cancer?
- Did any relatives have a genetic test? What was the result?
- Do you or your relatives have lifestyle risks for cancer? (e.g. Type-2 diabetes, smoking, or being overweight)
If possible, write down details about your parents, children, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins on both sides of the family, even if they don’t have cancer. If you have a pattern of certain types of cancer in many relatives, your GP may recommend you see a genetic counsellor. A genetic counsellor can help you to understand your risk and may be able to arrange genetic testing.
For more information and tips for talking to your family about their health history and what type of family health history you should record head to our ‘Resources’ centre.
How common is inherited cancer risk?
Cancer is common – many people have someone in their family who has or had cancer. Sometimes more than one family member has experienced cancer.
Inherited cancer is uncommon. Approximately 5 - 10% of certain cancers are due to a gene mutation inherited from either a father or mother. A gene mutation increases the risk of cancer, but even then, it does not mean every family member will develop the cancer.
The prevalence and risks related to carrying a gene mutation is detailed on this page.
Click on the links below to read about specific cancers associated with inherited gene mutations:
Know your risk. Change your future.
Take the online risk assessment
Head to our Resources Centre for more information
