Genetics and Hereditary Cancers

Family History

Appointment New Patient Appointment or 214-645-2563

Appointment New Patient Appointment or 214-645-2563

Risk factors, or red flags, for hereditary cancer can help identify families who may have a higher risk for hereditary cancer. UT Southwestern Medical Center’s genetic counselors work with families to capture a detailed family history (pedigree), help clarify cancer risks, and discuss steps to lower those risks.

The family history collected includes information about:

  • The patient
  • The patient’s first-degree relatives (parents, brothers, sisters, children)
  • The patient’s second-degree relatives (grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and half-brothers and sisters)
  • The patient’s third-degree relatives (great grandparents, great-aunts and uncles, and first cousins).
  • Ages of the patient and the patient’s relatives
  • Whether the patient or any relatives were diagnosed with cancer (including the type of cancer, ages of diagnosis and treatment)
  • Whether the patient or any relatives have had genetic testing for hereditary cancer before

It is important to talk to family members about the family history of cancer before a genetic counseling appointment, if possible. Some people might not know all their family history for a variety of reasons, and risk assessment is based on any available information. Possible risk factors in a family history include:

  • Cancer diagnosed at a young age (under age 50)
  • Multiple cancers diagnosed in the same person (not one cancer that spreads to different organs)
  • Cancer that has developed in both organs in a set of paired organs (such as both breasts or both kidneys)
  • Multiple close blood relatives on the same side of the family that have the same type of cancer or associated cancers (for example, a mother and daughter with breast cancer or two sisters with breast and ovarian cancer)
  • Multiple generations with the same type of cancer or associated cancers
  • Rare cancers such as male breast cancer or paragangliomas
  • The presence of birth defects or other noncancerous findings (benign skin growths or skeletal abnormalities) known to be associated with inherited cancer syndromes
  • Having racial or ethnic heritage known to have an increased chance of having a certain hereditary cancer syndrome (for example being of Ashkenazi Jewish descent)
  • The presence of more than 20 cumulative colon polyps (particularly precancerous polyps)

Family histories change over time so it is important to let providers know of these changes on a regular basis.