How important is it to get checked for breast cancer?
I know someone whose mother has breast cancer in her side of the family, her sister died from it, but she’s scared to get checked because of the possiblity they could find breast cancer. How important is it? It’s likely she will get it, because it runs in her family.
The only way to know if it runs in the family is if someone with breast cancer in the family was tested for it. If her mother or sister tested positive than she can be tested too and from there her doctor will recommend how often she should be screened and when she should start. Without knowing if she tested positive and not knowing her age it is impossible to know how important it is for her to be screened now. The whole point of screening is because the possibility is there, if it wasn’t there is no point in screening. So, I don’t understand her rational. Every woman has a lifetime risk of 1 in 8 for breast cancer. How likely she is to get it depends on her age and which rare gene runs in her family that increases her risk for the disease.