Daughter of Mother with Breast Cancer

My mother is 62 yrs. old, she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer
last September and unfortunately when it was discovered the cancer had already spread to her bones. She had a mascetomy the
very next day and when doing the surgery the doctor discovered
yet another " grapefruit " size tumor in her lymphnodes.  He tried to be calm but we saw the worry in his expressions. There
are four females in our family, what are our chances of also being affected with breast cancer?  I am 34 yrs. old, many doctors will not order a mammogram if you are not over 40, should I contact a doctor and inform him of the cancer in the family and am I able to have a mammogram at my age?  Any answers will be greatly appreciated!

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear Tea:   Hereditary breast cancer is believed to represent only 4-6% of all breast cancer.  Nonetheless, when a family member is diagnosed, one cannot help but wonder if daughters, sisters, etc are at higher risk.  The easy answer is that a first-degree relative does increase risk.  The issue is much more complex, however.  For example, the younger the person is when she is diagnosed, the more possible it is that the cancer could be hereditary.  Other questions would include the medical histories of other family members as well as other personal risk factors.  Currently, there are medical genetics programs that can test for the BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 genes in families that appear to have a high risk or hereditary disease.  The presence of these genes would indicate high probability of the development of breast cancer.  Medical genetics programs can also make screening recommendations for people who may be at higher risk but do not meet criteria for genetic testing or choose not to be tested.  Typically, mammography is not recommended in women under 40 since young women tend to have dense breast tissue, making mammography very difficult to read.  That is not to say that you couldn

[isabel68]

I was diagnosed with stage 2 bc at age 31.  I found the lump myself, I could tell that the dr was not taking me serious because of my age, despite the fact that I had family history.  It is true that young women have dense breast and that makes bc detection a bit harder but if you add ultrasound and self examination you have a good chance of catching cancer early if it happens.  Take care and be vigilant!