Cancer: The family connection

A percentage of certain cancers, including colorectal, breast, ovarian, and melanoma, have a hereditary component that can be passed from one generation to the next. If you have a family history of cancer on either your mother's or father's side and/or a personal history of cancer, you should look for the following risk factors:

• Two or more family members on the same side of your family have had the same cancer
• A family member was diagnosed with cancer at an unusually young age (e.g. breast cancer at 45 years or younger; colon cancer at 50 years or younger)
• A clustering of related cancers (e.g. breast/ovarian, or colon/uterine) in the family
• A family member carries a known genetic mutation (e.g. BRCA1, BRCA2, MSH2, MLH1)

For people who want to learn more, genetic consultation is available for Yale-New Haven patients through the Cancer Genetic Counseling Shared Resource of the Yale Cancer Center.

A genetic consultation will include:

• A detailed review of your family and medical history
• A risk assessment of the chance that the cancer in the family are hereditary
• A discussion of the risks, benefits and limitations of genetic testing
• An individualized schedule of screening examinations and discussion about cancer prevention

For more information about cancer genetic counseling, please visit yalecancercenter.org/genetics or call (203) 764-8400.