Mother & Sisters with Breast Cancer?

rumoret

My mother had breast cancer 1999 at age 69, triple negative.

I was dx breast cancer 2006 at age 49, ER+Pr+  : double positive.

I have 5 sisters.....so far I am the only one dx with breast cancer, we're ages 49 - 57 years old. 

I was curious how many of you have a mother who is dx or a sister(s) dx with breast cancer? Of course YOU would count as one, sister is two, and mother is three. 

I know we discuss this all over this board, but I thought it would be interesting to see under one thread. I am not sure if this has been done before....so I apologize in advance if it has been done.

Also, my father was dx with prostate cancer in his 70's but passed away from a longterm illness COPD.

Please only respond should you feel comfortable in doing so.

Love,

Terry 

hobblet

My mom had breast cancer 26 years ago and is still fine. She just had the brca tests done and is heterozygous for the BRCA1 mutation. I'm being tested the end of the month. I was diagnosed in August of this year. I have an identical twin and a little sister, both of whom are clear of cancer. My mother's sister died of breast cancer at age 53. 

hobblet

PinkFairy

I lost my Mom May 10th of this year to Breast Cancer and was diagnosed in June.Im waiting on my Brac results.

lvtwoqlt

My mom was dx 6 yrs ago at age 61 she did the BRACA test which came back negative and she is doing fine now after mast, chemo, rads and Tamox. Her sister died from ovarian cancer in 1978.

I was dx with DCIS this past April at age 46, my sister has no problems.

Sheila

rumoret

PinkFairy my heart goes out to you for your loss. I thank you for responding...and you too Hobblet.

I hope we have more responses. Have a beautiful weekend.

Love,

Terry 

quinnie

Just found this!  My mother was diagnosed 4 years ago at 74 with DCIS, ER/PR+ with mastectomy and no other treatment. She is just fine and dandy now. I was diagnosed 2 months ago with DCIS at age 51, ER/PR- and waiting for radiation to begin. I have 4 sisters, 2 have had biopsy's for suspicious mamo's but were negative. I found a study called the"sister study" that my sisters are going to get involved with. It is a 10 year study, not too much time involved so my sisters are thrilled to be able to do something positive to try to help the cause. I found the study on the American Cancer Society Website and they are still accepting.

hollyann

Hi Terry!   Just found this, too.  My mom was dx with bc at the age of 35 and lived to be 52.  She passed in 1972.  My sister was dx August of 2006 and i was dx January of 2007.   I also had a brother and sister who passed from lung cancer.  I had the BRCA test done an dwe don't carry those genes but the genetic counselor said we may carry any of the genes they have not found yet.  Thank you Terry for having this thread.

NarberthMom

My mom was diagnosed with ER+/node positive bc when she was 48. Fast forward ~22 years and she died of pancreatic cancer.



I was diagnosed with triple negative/ node negative bc at age 48. I did not test positive for BRCA1/2.



I have two sisters, both younger, who are quite anxious.

Anonymous

My sister diagnosed in her mid 30's

(stage 1)

I was diagnosed at 40

(stage III ) 

My Father died of breast cancer

No one else has any cancer in the family as I know.

rumoret

Thanks everyone for responding.....maybe we will get more to respond as more people come on this board.

Love Always,

Terry 

AnnNYC

My mother's side of the family is huge: she's one of 10 kids, and I have 60 first cousins on that side. I'm also the oldest (55 yo) of 8 -- I have 4 sisters and 3 brothers.  I'm the only BC in my immediate family.  One aunt (1 of 8 girls in my mom's immediate family) and 1 of that aunt's 5 daughters also have BC.  My maternal grandmother had early-stage colon cancer at 80, survived surgery and lived to be 96 (died of stroke).  One male cousin died this past summer of mets 3 years after a primary bone cancer: myxoid chondrosarcoma.

My dad's family was tiny: he had 1 sister, and she had 4 kids (1 daughter).  The only BC I know of was my paternal grandmother -- dx in her 30s (in the 1920s), mast, and she died in her 60s of a stroke.

Anonymous

Terry, my mom was diagnosed in 1988. Don't know her stats (ER status, etc), but she did have chemo (no rads or tamox, though). She died four years later of brain mets at age 49.



My aunt (actually my mom's first cousin) was diagnosed with dcis in 2003. She had a lumpectomy and radiation and is ok so far. Like me, she had a history of benign cysts and fibroadenomas.



I was diagnosed ER+/PR+/HER - in 2004 at age 37. I've had the BRCA test and was negative for 1 and 2, but had some genetic variant of "unknown significance" which my gyn thinks means there is something funky genetically that just hasn't been named/adequately studied yet.



No one else has had cancer of any kind on my mom's side (save for a cousin who died of a hereditary form of colon cancer traced through her father's side; we were related via her mom [the sister of the aunt with bc]).My father's side has no cancer at all, but lots and lots of heart/cardiovascular disease...

pgiglio

Hi Terry,

  My mom was diagnosed about 22 years ago and had a mastectomy. About 4 years ago she had ovarian cancer, that she died of. My maternal part of the family were all of Ashkenazy Eastern Jewish decent. My Great Grandmother had BC, My aunts and cousins all had BC.  My sister died at age 48 due to Bc. My other sister died off lung cancer at 52. I am positive for BRCA1. One cousin who was tested about 10 years ago was positive for BRCA and chose a bi lat and hysterectomy as prevention. She is alive and well. I am a 16 month survivor. I am also trip neg.

  My heart goes out to all who have to deal with this dreaded disease. Peggy

KLynn

Hi Terry,

    Same here, just found this site.

    My mom was diagnosed in 1994 at the age of 54. The first in our family. She is 1 of 5 sisters and 1 brother(who passed of brain cancer) Of her sisters only one has had suspicous cells, no treatment as of yet.

    I was dx in 2000 at the age of 38. Triple positive, as I believe my mom probably was. She was not tested for her 2, but was er+++. At the same time of my dx, my mother had her recur, to the bones and rib. So together we did chemo. My mom fought harder than anyone I've ever known, for 11  yrs. (at about the 8 yr mark, her kidneys shut down from the chemo drugs,and had to endure dyalisis. Which was pure hell with the chemo)

    Mom passed in 2005 at the age of 65. 11 yrs after original dx. Just after finding out about my recur to my lungs. I joked with her that she was going to hurry up and die first, once she knew I was sick again. Her death is still the worst day of my life. But now after 2 yrs of treatment I am in remission, only God knows for how long. .

    .I have one sister, she is 43, and has had few fatty tumors (both in her arms and breast). So far so good for her, but she continues to smoke. Why I ask????? My sisters father(my adopted father) is fighting prostate and colon cancer. I also hate CANCER !!!

    Hugs to all our sisters here KLynn 

LizM

My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer 1 1/2 yrs before me (ER/PR++ stage II) at age 53.  I was diagnosed at age 49 in fall 2005 also ER/PR ++ Her2neg also stage II.  Strange thing is that we both had 2 cm tumors and 1 pos node.  We both are doing OK so far and both on Femara.  I tested negative for brac 1 and 2.  No other breast cancer in our family.

wallycat

I am the first in my family to have cancer, that we know of.

My father's family all died in camps in europe (he was Ashkenazi Jewish).

My mom will be 84 and no cancer.  Twin sister, knock on wood, no cancer....father died at 88, no cancer.   Oh, and uncle (dad's brother) died from a broken heart, when his wife died from heart disease.

My sis did have a biopsy the same year I was Dx, but thankfully, all clear.

Editing to add, I did have the BRCA1/2 test and am negative...not even an odd variant. 

NancyD

Hi Terry,

My mother had breast cancer diagnosed in 1988. She had a modified mastectomy and radiation, but no chemo, as far as I can recall. I seem to remember that her nodes were clean, so that may have been the reason no chemo. She was taking Tamoxifen, so she might have been ER+, but I don't know for sure.  She passed away in 1992 from laryngial cancer (she never gave up smoking) which they said was not related to her breast cancer. She was the only girl in her family.

My paternal aunt developed ovarian cancer very late in life (in her 80's). I believe she actually died from a bad reaction to the treatment. She still has one sister living (the others died as children), who is so-o-o secretive about her life that she could have had a double mastectomy and we'd never know it!

I have two sisters. One had cancer in her sinuses over ten years ago, So far, she's been NED. Our younger sister has been completely healthy. We're all in our 50's now, separated by about six years overall. 

I had an ovary removed fifteen years ago that showed signs of atypical hyperplasia, what my doctor called pre-cancer. But there were very wide clean margins and the follow-up protocol did not require any rads or chemo. I just kept seeing my OB/GYN every six months and they watched the other ovary. My dr did not feel my breast lump in December when I had an exam, but it was there by January, just before I went for my mammo.

Edited to add:

Maternal grandfather died @1965 from intestinal cancer. Father currently has non-metastisized prostate cancer. He's almost 90 and will likely die from something else. All other siblings (I'm one of seven) are healthy in a non-cancer way. No medical history prior to grandparents' arrival from Europe in early 20th century.

CalGal

Grandma, Mom & Me

I'm the only daughter of an only daughter of an only child ... and we all got pre-menopausal bc ... 

My maternal grandma got bc at age 47; died in 2005 at 93 unrelated to bc.

My mother got bc at 46 (invasive), another primary in the other breast at 51 (medullary), then mets to the lung at 56, mets to the liver at 57/58 and passed from bc mets at 59 in 2000.   She was er/pr negative.

I got bc at 41, triple negative.  Despite clear nodes, one year later, I was dx'd with recurr bc, mets to the liver and unrelated renal cell carcinoma.    After the mets dx, I got the BRCA test .. and told the geneticist that I would be positive for BRCA1 ... and I was right ...

After the recurr & mets dx, I've been on a medical leave from work and consider my work to be a bc researcher re:  the specifics of my bc ...  If only I knew then (orig dx) what I know now ...

After the liver mets, had 13 months of NED.  Then a lung met.  The PARP inhibitor clinical trial worked for 6 mos.  As of Feb 2008, a liver met has returned (after 20 mos) ...  Treatment to be determined ....  soon I hope!  I see my onc on Mar 21 ...

CalGal 

lisa49

mother never had bc,sister who is older had bc in her 30's she is now in her 50's and remains ca free, I am 49 recently dx, my fathers family has strong hx of ca but no other bc. i have a young neice [my sisters daughter] trying to get her to go to dr

good thoughts coming to you

  lisa

clarkpa

hi terry my mum of 58 and myself 39 just got dx with breast ca on the same week 2 weeks ago mum is getting a lump removed in a month i am starting chemo and herceptin in a few days we are still waiting on test results so not sure of stages, but family history i am only daughter mum is one of 10 having 3 sisters. mums mum one of three girls one of which had ca of the throat.

smithlme

My paternal Grand-Mother had BC in her 50's. There was only radiation that many years ago and she didn't survive. My sister was diagnosed at 36 and is an 18 year survivor. After a double Mastectomy, she went through 36 weeks of chemo. Unheard of now, but was the "norm" then. I was diagnosed at 47, last year.

As a side note, my Dad is a Colon Cancer survivor of 10 years, and a Kidney Cancer survivor of 5 years. Can you say bad genes!

Linda

Catherine

My mother never had breast cancer but two aunts and both my grandmothers got it.  Even though I have a history of breast cancer in my family, I was shocked when I was diagnosed with DCIS. 

Catherine

joanne_elizabeth

Hi,

My mom was diagnosed in 1990 at age 63.  My cousin at age 44 with Stage III.

I was diagnosed in 2007 but none of 3 three sisters has been to date.  Negative for BRCA1 and 2, but they find new genetic culprits every week it seems.

Joanne

AmryAnn47

Hi,

I just found this and want to add my mom & me to the list.

Mom was dx'd in 1980 at age 62, had a radical mastectomy of her L breast with spread to her lymphnodes.  She had radiation but no chemo.  She died in 1988 from congestive heart failure (complications from the radiation tx--damaged her heart) but no recurrence of ca.

My dad died from lung cancer mets to the brain in 1991, at the age of 76.  He and my mom had both smoked since they were 15.

I was diagnosed in 2004 right before I turned 57, my younger sis has never had a suspicious mammo and now my 40 year old daughter has started having regular mammos since I was dx'd. But then, my mammograms never showed my cancer until it was in my spine already and the pain there led to dx.

Thanks for the chance to share,

Mary Ann 

lkc

Just found this.

My Mom was dxed with BC in 1979 age 55 . No chemo, no rads as no pos lymph nodes. She recurred in 1998 with liver mets, and passed away from this in 2005( Er PR pos) . Her mom died at age 75 BC, and my mom's only sister of BC at 75 as well.

I ws dxed stage IIIC at age 50 ( er/pr neg, her pos). I am the only BC sister of 3 girls. One sister tested neg BRACA.

nash

My mom was diagnosed with bc at age 62, triple positive, died 5 1/2 years later (just ten weeks ago, actually). My dad died of pancreatic cancer. His father died of bladder cancer. My mom's sister has colon cancer, and I was diagnosed at age 38 with bc. No other bc in the family. Although my dad was an Ashkenazi Jew with pancreatic cancer (typically BRCA2), my BRCA testing was negative. One onc told me he thinks I have a BRCA mutation they haven't identified yet.

LisaSDCA

On my maternal side, I have mother, aunts, great aunts, cousins, second cousins, grandmother, great-grandmothers, cousins-once-removed...  and not a single one of them has had breast cancer. Talk about beating the odds! My eldest aunt (I simply adore her!) is on her second pacemaker at 87, but just as alert and chipper as you could want.

So that's the history we thought we had until my sister found a lump at 29,a little tiny, clear node cancer. She fought like a maniac against this beast and still died at 34. We were all stunned. Where did that come from?

On my paternal side, my grandfather lived to be 90. However, his mom died at 33 - my great-grandmother. After my diagnosis at 49 (after I thought I was home free) we did more digging. With more genealogical research, we discovered that her mom died at 31, with two more of her daughters also dying at 31 and 35. They each left sons. Who either died childless or left only sons. My grandfather had two sons. Of them, my father had four children - my sister being the first girl-child born since her great-grandmother.

By the book, I didn't strictly even qualify for genetic testing. I only had one first degree relative with early breast cancer - and no other breast cancers at all. But I didn't need the test to tell me my blood would be positive. I didn't need a biopsy to tell me my lump would be malignant. Once I saw it on the mammography viewbox, I knew it was a triple negative, BRCA-1 positive carcinoma. I had been waiting for that sword of Damocles to drop for nearly 15 years. I had not escaped after all. 

Yes, my BRCA-1 came back positive. Blessedly, my younger sister's is negative, so there is not 100% penetrance. Yes, I know it is 50-50 with each child, but so far this particular mutation was batting a thousand with the women it had access to, so it was a big relief!

Now my greatest fear was my child. My sister had died childless. My brother and sister are childless by choice. It could all end with me! All of my grandbabies and great-grandbabies could be free from this! My daughter just has to have her dad's gene in that critical spot.

But she is 23. Immortal. She doesn't want to know. 

I am going to go out of character and tell her that is all I want for Mother's Day - her BRCA test. She has great insurance so it will be covered. I'm not usually one to manipulate to get what I want.

So it probably won't work.

I didn't raise me up no wuss-woman daughter.

Sorry for the ramble, there.

Courage to all!

Lisa

addendum: my father, who carried the gene from his father, died at 46 from metastatic melanoma. Of course, at the time we saw no connection.

Little-G

My mom was dx about 2 months after me, with IDC.  I don't remember stage or anything, as I was in a whirlwind at the time.  I guess I should check that.  My dad died of lung cancer.  My older sister at 51 from a heart attack.  My younger sister is participating in the Komen Sister Study.  Hopefully she'll never have to deal with cancer. 

g

rumoret

Thanks everyone for writing your personal family stories. I would like to see this thread continue.....thanks once again.

Love,

Terry 

lorinda1969

hello

i lost my mother to breast cancer which spread to her brain and was battling cancer for 22 years and i lost her on march 23,2008 she was all i had along with my 2 kids but my mom was my life and i feel lost, so if you need someone to talk to im here, i can sure use a friend to talk to considering your loss as well. lorinda

lorinda1969

hello

i lost my mother to breast cancer which spread to her brain and was battling cancer for 22 years and i lost her on march 23,2008 she was all i had along with my 2 kids but my mom was my life and i feel lost, so if you need someone to talk to im here, i can sure use a friend to talk to considering your loss as well. lorinda