Hi,
My step-daughter to be has a family history of bc. Her grand-mother and mother died early 40’s and aunts, cousins etc have either had bc or had double mastectomies in case. My step-daughter is 23. All I know is that it’s type 2? So far, she herself and her father brush it under the carpet and do not want to discuss it at all. Will she be contacted from her medical history for tests or should she initiate it, and when please? Should I back off or should I try to encourage them to do something? Regards, M
Hi Jubilant
its very unlikely that anybody will get in touch with her… firstly the genetics service wont as they may not know she even exists.
when the other family members were diagnosed they will have been told it was up to them to inform other family members who may be at risk.
in terms of screening she would be entitled to screening from age 35/40 but if she decided she wanted tested they would need to get information from the affected family member as to what specific mutation it is… within each of the two know breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 there are hunderds of different changes and in people who have a know gene change in their family it is that specific change they look for and this is referred to as predictive testing.
as her father hasnt been tested this means her current risk of carrying the gene is 25%… her dad could get tested also… if he was found not to carry the gene then this would mean your step daughter didnt have it as its passed directly on through one or other of your parents.
some people just dont want to know if they have a mutation as they feel they would be living with it hanging over them whereas others would prefer to find out as they plan to do something about it either by having prophylactic surgery or increased screening but it it is a very personal decision and only that person can decide what to do.
she is still very young and often its when women get married or have children that they choose to have testing.
there is no harm in getting her GP to refer her to clinical genetics so that her risk can be discussed and she doesnt need to go any further with it… why not have a chat to her and see what she feels about it herself.
my daughter is 19 and isnt interested in being tested yet… i have discussed it with her a number of times and i know its her decision to make but she isnt ready yet… i am the youngest affected member of the family being 37 when i had bc the first time and they normally wont screen until 5 years younger than the youngest person so she has plenty of time to consider what she wants to do.
Lulu x