Families share more than genes, physical features and medical traits. Other elements that relatives have in common—backgrounds, relationships, and dynamics—sometimes affect communication between family members, often concerning private health issues or medical histories. In some families, particularly with older members who consider cancer, breasts and ovaries very private matters never to be discussed, this lack of communication withholds critically important health information from other relatives who may be affected. Read the rest of this entry »

Pre-vivor support

Confronting your personal cancer risk can be confusing and frustrating. If you are a cancer pre-vivor trying to choose the best risk-management option, sometimes it helps to speak with other women who have faced these choices. Learn more about talking with other high-risk women in our website’s support section or visit the following sections of the FORCE website to find more support resources specifically for pre-vivors: Read the rest of this entry »

FORCE has produced the following publications that relate to hereditary cancer. Feel free to print these for your own use. Our brochures, newsletters and some of our other publications are also available in single or larger quantities and can be ordered through our pubication order form. Read the rest of this entry »

Risk assessment
Although everyone is at risk for cancer during his or her lifetime, cancer risk is individual. Many factors affect a person’s risk, including gender, age, family history, history of hormone exposure, and others. Cancer risk assessment refers to the use of tools and statistics to determine an individual’s risk for cancer. Risk assessment helps health care providers determine an individual’s best options for cancer screening, follow-up, and risk management. The benefits derived from different screening and risk management options often depend on the estimated cancer risk of an individual. Read the rest of this entry »

All cancers are caused by changes to materials in our bodies called “genes.” These are units of information in every cell of our bodies. Everyone has two copies of each gene, one from each parent. During development, genes tell our cells what type of tissue to become—a skin cell vs. a muscle cell, for example—and in later life, when to divide and make more cells. Genes also determine which proteins to make based on the type of cell and its needs. Some genes tell our bodies how to repair damage from environmental toxins, sun exposure, dietary factors, hormones, and other influences, or tell our cells when to stop growing. Read the rest of this entry »

Genetic testing involves taking a sample of blood or tissue in order to learn more about a person’s genes. Genetic testing can be used to determine if someone has changes in their genes that make them more likely to be diagnosed with certain diseases such as cancer. Genetic tests that measure likelihood for a disease are called “predictive genetic tests.”

There is a predictive blood test available that can determine if a person carries a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2, the most common genes involved in hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. This test does not determine whether a person has cancer or not; it indicates whether a person carries a change in one of these genes. Read the rest of this entry »