CANCER RISK ASSESSMENT GENETIC COUNSELING

A number of factors contribute to a person's risk to develop cancer, including:

• Age
• Personal medical history
• Family history
• Environmental exposures
• Lifestyle

Most cancer is not related to strong inherited factors, but a number of cancers are associated with familial syndromes that increase an individual’s predisposition to develop cancer, including:

• Breast
• Ovarian
• Colon
• Prostate
• Melanoma
• Uterine

Features of Common Hereditary Cancer Syndromes                        

• Breast/Ovarian Cancer
  • breast cancer diagnosis before age 50
  • breast and/or ovarian cancer in at least two generations on the same side of the family
  • individuals with both breast and ovarian cancer
  • bilateral breast cancer
  • male breast cancer
• Colon Cancer
  • Hereditary non-polyposis
    • colon cancer or polyps diagnosed at an early age
    • colon cancer in multiple individuals in the family
    • family history of colon, uterine, ovarian, and other cancers
  • Familial adenomatous polyposis
    • colon cancer diagnosed at an early age
    • hundreds or thousands of colon polyps
  • Familial colon cancer in the Ashkenazi Jewish population

Patients who can benefit from cancer risk assessment genetic counseling include those:

• concerned about their personal risk to develop cancer based on their family history
• with a family history of breast, ovarian, colon, uterine or prostate cancer
• with cancer diagnosed at an early age and a family history of cancer
• with a personal or family history of multiple cancers (for example, breast and ovarian cancers)
• with a known cancer gene mutation in their family
• who are considering BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 gene mutation testing

Health Insurance

Health insurance does not generally cover genetic counseling for cancer risk assessment.  However, many health insurance companies are covering gene testing under appropriate circumstances.  Our counseling and administrative staff will be happy to provide you with details.