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Learning More and
Taking Action

Understanding and Managing Your Risk

For Cancer Survivors

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Background Information

Glossary

“Cancer risk assessment, risk factors, and risk management options may differ for people with hereditary
cancer risk.”

— FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered, Inc

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Breast and Ovarian Cancer

Breast and ovarian cancer are topics of concern for all women—regardless of their family history. Each year, more than 211,000 cases of breast cancer and more than 22,000 cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed. Almost one in every four deaths in the United States is from cancer. About 10 percent of these cases are hereditary.

Below you'll find information on breast and ovarian cancer, including sections on:

Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) Fast Facts
Breast Cancer Basics
Ovarian Cancer Basics
Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Factors
How Heredity Can Put You At Risk
Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk

Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) Fast Facts

Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndrome:

Is most often due to a mutation, or alteration, in one of 2 genes: BRCA1 and BRCA2
Causes about 10% of breast and ovarian cancer
Substantially increases your risk for developing breast and ovarian cancer, often before the age of 50 (see chart)
Can be inherited from either your father or your mother
Can be passed on to your children if you have the mutated gene

For more about HBOC, see HBOC 101

The BRCA Mutation Increases Your Risk of Cancer...

...But Proactive Cancer Management Can Reduce the Risk

Preventive Measure

See Tamoxifen, Mastectomy, or Oophorectomy in our Glossary.

A test can help confirm if you have hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndrome.

If you do have hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndrome, you can:

Take action to reduce your chances of developing cancer
Work with your doctor to create a plan for medical management going forward
Help your family members by sharing your test result with them

Breast Cancer Basics

Each year, more than 211,000 American women—and about 1,700 men—are diagnosed with breast cancer. Not counting certain skin cancers, in the United States:

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women
Breast cancer is second to lung cancer as a leading cause of cancer deaths among women
Seventy-five percent of breast cancer occurs among women older than age 50
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 50 women in the general population (that is, with no hereditary cancer risk) will get breast cancer by age 50, 1 in 24 by age 60, and 1 in 8 over a lifetime

Because it is always better to discover a cancer early, and because many women do not have any warning signs or symptoms, it is important to undergo regular screening for breast cancer.

Ovarian Cancer Basics

While it is much less common than breast cancer, ovarian cancer is more difficult to find at an early stage. According to the Mayo Clinic, only about 20 percent of ovarian cancers are found before the cancer has spread.

The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2007, there will be 22,430 new cases of ovarian cancer and 15,280 women will die from ovarian cancer.

In the United States:

One woman in 58 will develop ovarian cancer during her lifetime
Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in women aged 35 to 74
According to the Centers for Disease Control, ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system
Ovarian cancer is the seventh most common cancer in women
About 80% of ovarian cancers are not diagnosed early, leading to reduced survival rates

According to the first national agreement on ovarian cancer symptoms (2007), women at risk for ovarian cancer should see their gynecologist if any of the following symptoms persist most days for more than a few weeks:

Bloating
Pelvic or abdominal pain
Difficulty eating or feeling full quickly
Urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency)

Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Factors

For breast cancer and ovarian cancer, age, environment, and lifestyle can affect a person's risk. An individual's risk factors may include:

Breast Cancer	Ovarian Cancer
Age (most women who develop breast cancer are over 50)	Age (most women who develop ovarian cancer do so after menopause). Risk increases with age into the late 70s.
Having had breast cancer already	–
Exposure to radiation, especially during adolescence	–
Being overweight	Being overweight in early adulthood
Early puberty, especially with menstruation before age 12	Infertility
Late menopause, especially after age 55	–
First pregnancy after age 30 or never becoming pregnant	Never becoming pregnant
Having treated menopause symptoms with hormone therapy	Having treated menopause symptoms with hormone therapy
Using or having used birth control pills*	Not using birth control pills*
Smoking	–
Drinking more than one alcoholic beverage daily	–
Breast density as shown on mammograms	–
Precancerous changes in a breast	Ovarian cysts that develop after menopause
Hereditary Risk Factors	–
Race and heritage, especially for women of Ashkenazi, or Eastern European Jewish, ancestry	Race and heritage, especially for women of Ashkenazi , or Eastern European Jewish, ancestry
Family history of breast or ovarian cancer, especially in a first-degree relative	Family history of breast or ovarian cancer, especially in a first-degree relative
Inherited gene mutations known to contribute to breast cancer risk	Inherited gene mutations known to contribute to breast cancer risk

See the National Cancer Institute Fact Sheet on oral contraceptives for more

How Heredity Can Put You at Risk

Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndrome is an inherited condition that causes an increased risk of developing these cancers, often before the age of 50. Research shows that about 10% of breast and ovarian cancer is due to an alteration in one of 2 genes—BRCA1 and BRCA2. These genes can come from either your mother or your father.

For more about HBOC Risk Factors, see Inherited Risk.

Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk

If You Have NOT Had Breast or Ovarian Cancer:	BRCA Mutation Carrier	General Population
Breast cancer by age 50	33%-50%	2%
Breast cancer by age 70	56%-87%	7%
Ovarian cancer by age 70	27%-44%	<2%
Male breast cancer by age 70	6%	.05%
If You HAVE Had Breast or Ovarian Cancer:	BRCA Mutation Carrier	General Population
Ovarian cancer	15%	not available
Breast cancer after 5 years	27%	3.5%
Breast cancer by age 70	64%	11%
Other Cancer Risks:*	BRCA Mutation Carrier	General Population
Prostate cancer by age 80	20%	15%
Pancreatic cancer by age 80	2%-4%	<1%

Less information is available about the risks of these and other cancers than about breast and ovarian cancers.

Check My HBOC Risk

About 1 in 500 people carry BRCA gene mutations. The chance of having a mutation increases if breast or ovarian cancer run in the family.