Breast Cancer Risk

Private Home Health Care feels we need to understand many aspects of breast cancer to increase awareness.  Better awareness can lead us to early detections. Early detections are key to improved diagnosis. 

Today’s blog will focus on strong risk for the disease.  

Your family history is an indicator which can be hard to change.  Women with Ashkenazi or Eastern European Jewish descent, have an elevated risk for breast cancer.

Get in touch with your healthcare provider if you have a strong risk.  There are additional screenings to discuss.  You want to be able to make informed decisions.

There are two degrees in our family history to be aware of:

First degree – parents, siblings children

Second degree – aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, grandparents and grandchildren

You should get in touch with your healthcare provider with any of the following in your family history:

• A breast cancer diagnosis aged 45 or younger
• Triple negative breast can diagnosis aged 60 or younger
• Primary cancer of both breasts
• Breast cancer AND ovarian cancer in the same relative
• Male breast cancer
• Ovarian cancer
• Two or more first or second degree relative from the same side of the family with breast cancer diagnosis with at least one of the cancer’s before age 50
• Three or more relatives from the same side of the family with breast or high grade prostate cancer at any age

This information has come from the CDC. 

You can find additional information on Moderate and Average risks on their website: (www.cdc.gov/genomics/disease/breast_ovarian_cancer/risk_categories.htm)