Is breast cancer inherited?
Is breast cancer inherited?
Share
Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and will create a new password via email.
Is breast cancer inherited?
Site Default
Most cases of breast cancer are not caused by inherited genetic factors. These cancers are associated with somatic mutations in breast cells that are acquired during a person’s lifetime, and they do not cluster in families. In hereditary breast cancer, the way that cancer risk is inherited depends on the gene involved
RAJESH SURESH DAKE
Most women who get breast cancer do not have any family history of breast cancer. Just because a family member had breast cancer does not always mean that you will get breast cancer.
We do know that there are some genes associated with a known increased risk of breast cancer. These are BRCA 1 (breast cancer 1, early onset human tumor suppressor gene) and BRCA 2 (breast cancer type 2, susceptibility protein). Only 10 percent of women with breast cancer have these inherited genes. These women usually get breast cancer at a young age and have multiple family members with breast or ovarian cancer.
Answered by Stephanie Valente, DO. Dr. Valente is a breast surgeon at Cleveland Clinic. She is a board certified general surgeon with fellowship training in surgical breast oncology and serves as the Associate Director of the Cleveland Clinic Breast Fellowship.