Hello Jayjay and thanks for your post

I’m sorry to read about your family history of lung cancer. I can understand you worrying about you and your daughter’s risk of developing lung cancer in the future.

The majority of cancers happen randomly which means that there is not a family link. Our risk of developing cancer is due to a combination of our genes, our environment and things to do with our lifestyle, for example smoking. There is also an element of chance or bad luck.

Lung cancer risks and causes are explained on our website at this link. Smoking is the biggest risk factor for developing lung cancer so well done for giving up.

Genetic testing is usually offered to people with a strong family history, as this predicts who is most likely to have inherited a cancer gene fault. If there is a strong family history of cancer, for example you have two close relatives ( parent, child, or sibling)  on the same side of your family with the same type of cancer, or the cancer developed at a young age, then there may be a concern about the possibility of an inherited cancer gene fault. In this situation some families are referred to genetics clinic so do speak to your GP about this when you get the chance.

You might like to know that lung screening has now been recommended  for people aged between 55-74 who either smoke or used to smoke will get an invite for an assessment.  It will take some time for this to be rolled out fully and is not widely available to everyone yet. You can read more about this on our website at this link. At the moment there is something called a lung health check programme, which is in effect screening, but it is only running in certain parts of the country. These checks are also for people aged between 55-74 who either currently or used to smoke and are registered with a GP (the programme gets people's names, contact details and smoking history from the GP's records). You can read about the lung health check programme here

The best thing we can all do is to be aware of our own body and if we notice any unusual signs or symptoms that persist to get checked out by the GP. There are also lifestyle factors that we can all follow to help reduce our risk of developing cancer which you can read about here.

I hope this helps. Give us a ring if you would like to talk things over. The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Kind regards,

Celene