Whats the chance of me getting breast cancer?
Monday, December 7th, 2009 at
3:11 am
? slow dancing in a burning room asked:
I have more the 3 people in my family who have died of breast cancer and I am scared I might have it because my breasts are always aching me and I’m only 17 so I just wanna know of I might have it or at risk?
I have more the 3 people in my family who have died of breast cancer and I am scared I might have it because my breasts are always aching me and I’m only 17 so I just wanna know of I might have it or at risk?
Filed under: Breast Cancer
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I would say you definitely have a risk of getting breast cancer since so many people in your family have had it. You should definitely talk to a doctor. You should also get mammograms once a year to make sure everything is normal.
You should have a breat exam done to find out for sure and beginning after your 20th birthday you should start getting an annual breast exam done…. Also it is important to get to know your girls so that if there are changes you will know right away, you can visit this website for instructions on how to do a self exam and get more information on breast cancer
What relationship were the people who had breast cancer?
A parent, sibling or child is a 1st degree relationship.
A grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew is 2nd degree.
A great grandparent, cousin, etc is 3rd degree.
Etc
Keep in mind that less than 10% of breast cancers are hereditary.
In any 100 women, 95 have a 1 in 8 risk, 4 have a 1 in 2 risk and 1 has a 1in 2 risk.
Unless you have 2 or more first degree relatives with breast cancer, you probably fall into the 95% with a 1 in 8 risk.
Aching breasts is not an indication of breast cancer, it is a sign of a poorly fitting bra or hormones (particularly in week prior to your period).
First, aching breasts are not a symptom of breast cancer – most people diagnosed with it have felt no pain. The chances of breast cancer at 17 are very, very close to zero, and the chances of having it in both breasts at once are smaller still.
Breast cancer is almost unheard of in under 25s (let alone teens); fewer than 0.1% of all those diagnosed are under 30 and only 5% under 40. Most (80%) are over 50. I was classed as a ‘younger woman’ when I was diagnosed with breast cancer – I was 50.
Hereditary breast cancer is rare – only 5-10% of all breast cancers are hereditary, and they are due to a rare inherited faulty gene.
Breast cancer diagnosed after the age of 50 is even less likely to be hereditary.
A sign that breast cancer MAY be hereditary within a family is when several members of the same side of that family have had it, especially if some developed it at a younger than usual age. In such a case, genetic testing for one of the rare faulty genes known to be responsible for hereditary breast cancer, BRCA1 and BRCA2 may be recommended.
Even if the breast cancer cases in your family were among the 5 – 10% that are hereditary, you can only inherit the faulty gene if one of your parents carries it, in which case you have a 50% chance of inheriting it – though inheriting the gene doesn’t mean you’d definitely get breast cancer. If one of your parents doesn’t carry the gene, nor will you
A friend of mine has had breast cancer, and been found to carry one of the faulty genes; her three adult daughters have all been tested – one has inherited the gene, the other two haven’t.
Even where breast cancer is hereditary, the chances of developing it at 17 are still just about zero.
Aching breasts is hormonal and perfectly normal.
Talk to your mother about all this