Hello and thanks for your post,

If you have not done so already do make an appointment with your GP so they can do a breast examination and also assess the lump under your arm. I am sure that if they feel that you need further investigations they will refer you to a breast clinic. Just to say 9 out of 10 women who are referred to a breast clinic are found not to have cancer.

The lump in your arm pit may just be an enlarged lymph gland  or a benign (non cancer) cyst and nothing to do with your breast but we can't diagnose you. GP's have guidelines about what to look out for.

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).

Benign (non cancer lumps) are very common particularly in young women so try not to think ahead of yourself. 

NICE (National Institute for Heath and Care Excellence) have guidance for the public on a person's breast cancer risk which you may want to look at here

Let your GP know about your mum and how old she was when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Do also make them know of your fear of developing breast cancer.

I hope this helps.

If you feel that you would like to ring and discuss this with one of the helpline nurses then you are more then welcome to get back to us. Our number is Freephone 0808 800 4040.

All the very best,

Catherine