Hello and Thank you for your enquiry.

I am so sorry to hear about your friend, and can understand your curiosity into your own health.

When cancer is in the family, people often assume that this greatly increases their risk of developing it, but this isn't necessarily so. Although the genes we inherit may influence our risk, other things do as well. No one is risk free and the risk of breast cancer increases for all women as we get older.

Breast cancer risks and causes are explained on our website at this link. You will see that a family history can increase the risk of breast cancer but not always by very much. This can depend on how close the affected relatives were and how young they were when they developed the cancer. Breast cancer is common anyway, 1 in 8 women develop breast cancer over their lifetime, but mostly at an older age (above 50). 

So, we all carry some degree of ‘population' risk. In the UK, routine breast screening starts from 50 for most of us although there is a study asking some women from the age of 47. Some women whose risk is above average can start screening sooner, but only a very few women are offered it in their thirties.

The first step is to find out if your breast cancer risk is enough above average to justify screening. Your GP can help you to do this. You need to find out if anyone else on either side of your family has a history of breast or other cancers and if so, how old there were when they developed it. Depending on the family history your GP can refer you on to a breast clinic for a risk assessment or tell you that your risk is much the same as average. There is usually a concern if the people with breast cancer were young, in this instance that means under the age of 40.  

It is worth reading the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance around family history,  

Please do get back to us if you have any more questions or give us a call us on 0808 800 4040. We are here from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Take care and I hope this has been helpful,

Sarah.

Hi Sarah 

Thank you so much for your reply. It is difficult at times, being an only child, with no first generation relatives at all - Dad passed peacefully 12 years ago in his 90th year. So I have no idea whether breast cancer is in any family genes. I shall have a think about this. Indeed I am very scared for my friend, the Whipple is I understand an extremely complex and serious op. In her favour she is physically fit, doesn't smoke or drink and her weekly fitness checks getting better in prep for the op next week. Thank you again, best wishes.

Caroline