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ome forms of cancers are hereditary. To better detect and take charge, doctors rely on family history, on the side of the mother but also the father. But women too often fail paternal inheritance.The recent identification of several genes, whose alterations are involved in predisposition to breast cancer, can be used to estimate more precisely the risks of each woman and optimize their monitoring.
But in order to be able to reassure them or improve their care, a survey of family history is required.
Between 5 and 10% of breast cancer and ovarian cancer are due to a genetic predisposition majeure, ie associated with a high risk tumor. In France, there were 34 000 new cases of breast cancer and 3 200 new ovarian cancer each year.
The hereditary forms represent 1 700 to 3 400 cases of hereditary breast cancers and 160 to 320 cases of hereditary ovarian cancers.
Attention, however, the presence of a genetic mutation does not automatically imply the development of cancer, but it greatly increases the risk of developing the disease.
No less than 34 000 women from 25 to 70 years are currently carriers of a hereditary predisposition to breast cancer.
These mutations can be passed by both the mother and a father and are dominant. But according to a study american, the paternal side is largely ignored or underestimated.
Ask your father about his family history
According to researchers, this phenomenon is linked to the fact that men are less informed about the risks of breast cancer within their family and / or do not communicate this information to their spouses.
Result: women are less familiar family history of their father and do not know whether cancers have occurred on this side of filiation. They may also underestimate this paternal influence.
To better assess the risk of breast cancer, doctors must know the exact family history of the disease.
