About Medical Genetics for Cancer
While most cancers are not hereditary, approximately 5-10% of cancer cases are inherited or passed down from generation to generation.
West Oahu Medical Genetics cancer clinic involves the careful evaluation of your medical and family history to identify which families may have an increased risk of hereditary cancer. A consultation will involve a review of your history, the likelihood of having inherited cancer, cancer screening recommendations, what genetic testing is available and the risks, benefits and limitations of that testing. Not all individuals who have genetic counseling will choose to have genetic testing.
Cancer genetic consultation may be right for you if:
- You have been diagnosed with breast, ovarian, colon, endometrial (uterine) or renal cancer before age 50
- You have multiple relatives with the same or related cancers (breast/ovarian within a family or colon/endometrial within a family)
- You or a family member has been diagnosed with more than one type of cancer (bilateral breast cancer, breast and ovarian, colon and endometrial)
- Have cancer in more than one generation of your family
- You have a rare cancer or a type of cancer that occurs more often in the other gender (like breast cancer in a male)
- You have breast or ovarian cancer and are a member of certain ethnic backgrounds (e.g. Ashkenazi Jewish)
Links for more information
Breast Cancer
MD Anderson Cancer Center: Do you need genetic testing for Breast Cancer
Susan G. Komen: BRCA 1 and BRCA2 Genes
Colon Cancer
Memorial Sloan Kettering: Hereditary Colon Cancer
American Cancer Society: Colon Cancer
CDC: Colon Cancer
Skin Cancer
Stanford Health Care: Is Skin Cancer Genetic?
Kidney Cancer and von Hippel-Lindau syndrome (VHL)
US National Library of Medicine: von Hippel-Lindau syndrome
Stanford Health Care: von Hippel-Lindau syndrome
