About Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancers

Source: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion — Content from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (public domain).

Key points

  * If you have a family health history of breast or ovarian cancer, you may be more likely to get cancer.
  * Share your family health history of cancer with your doctor.

Overview

Each year, about 270,000 women and 2,000 men in the United States get breast cancer, and about 20,000 women get ovarian cancer. Most of these cancers happen by chance. But some are hereditary, meaning that they are caused by genetic changes (called mutations) which are passed down in families.

If you are at risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, you can take steps to lower your risk. If your family health history shows that you could be at higher risk for cancer, your doctor may refer you for genetic counseling and genetic testing.