Hi, Nooga – Kayla here. In 2010, my mom was one of the thousands of women in the U.S. to be diagnosed with breast cancer. She thankfully counts herself now as one of the country’s 3.5 million breast cancer survivors, a number that increases annually thanks to advances in treatment, early detection + increased awareness.

If you have a family history of breast cancer, you may wonder about getting tested yourself: “When should I start getting mammograms? Is there a breast cancer gene? How do I know if I have it?” This is a lot to think about. Let us break some of it down:

Let’s talk mammograms.

Erlanger Health System’s Center for Breast Health offers digital mammography, allowing images to be enhanced, magnified + manipulated for further evaluation. Basically, this means you get faster, clearer results.

Erlanger recommends all women start getting mammograms at the age of 40. But what if breast cancer runs in your family?

Genetic testing might be right for you.

Although most cases of cancer are not due to single, inherited gene alterations, approximately 5-10% of cancers are hereditary.

Erlanger’s Medical Genetics team can help determine if genetic testing makes sense for you. After evaluating an individual’s personal + family histories, they will decide whether or not to proceed with genetic testing for hereditary cancer.

If the Genetics team decides to move forward with genetic testing for hereditary cancer, they will typically collect a small amount of blood or saliva, then test to analyze the DNA for mutations (read: changes) in certain cancer-related genes.

Genetic test results showing an increased risk for certain cancers could lead to changes in a person’s cancer-screening regimen, like performing certain screening tests more frequently or beginning at an earlier age, i.e. mammograms.

What do people mean by “the breast cancer gene”?

The “breast cancer genes” mean the BRCA1 + BRCA2 genes, two of the most common genes associated with hereditary breast + ovarian cancer. Genetic mutations in these genes cause an increased risk for these cancers in women and an increased risk for breast cancer + prostate cancer in men. However, mutations in genes besides BRCA1 + BRCA2 can also pose an increased risk for breast cancer.

If any of this has you stressed, remember: When diagnosed early, the survival rate for breast cancer is 97%. Click here to learn more about Erlanger’s Center for Breast Health. For more information about genetic testing call 423-778-6357, and to schedule a mammogram call 423-778-PINK. Ⓟ