Unknown family history

karissaerin

Hi! I posted my story in another thread but here's a rundown:

-Found a pea-sized lump in my right breast and a smaller one near the armpit.

-Had my Ultrasound and Biopsy 3/11/09, doctor kept on reassuring that "it's most probably benign" because of my age and no family history

-Got my biopsy result last week and yes, it' benign

-Will have my surgery consult tomorrow 3/23

I suddenly realized that when I said no family history of cancer, it's just on my mother's side. My father left when I was 5 years old and never heard from him since. I'm 22 yrs old and now, and I feel stupid about not thinking about my father's side of the family. Now, I'm working on trying to get in touch with my father's family so I can get the answer to that question. As I said on the other thread, I was thinking about just leaving the lump alone. While my family history is still unknown, how should I approach this situation? Please let me know what you think.

Thank you so much!

KinAZ

Hi, I am soooooo happy your lumps are benign..... I too do not know my father.  My oncologist told me that would not make any difference in the way I was treated.   I even had the gene testing done.  Take someone with you tomorrow to the consult.  And take notes if you need to.  I would also get a copy of the pathology report.  Listen to the onco, get a 2nd opinion if you need to, and do some research.....  Then make a decision. 

I dont know the situation with your fathers extended family, but if it is emotional draining to contact them, then dont..  Ask the onco if knowing your fathers history will make any difference.

Best of luck, Karen 

Beesie

If you hadn't had a biopsy, then perhaps not knowing your family history, having a biopsy might have made sense.  But since you've had a biopsy and the result was benign - a fibroadenoma, I believe - whether or not you have a family history of breast cancer really doesn't make any difference, at least for now.  Fibroadenomas are always benign, whatever your family history.  And fibroadenomas don't turn cancerous.  So leaving a fibroadenoma in place is fine.  But, as I mentioned in my other post, once you are at an age where you start regular breast screening, at that point, it probably makes sense to remove the fibroadenoma, because it could block the ability to see all your breast tissue when screening is done.  So, if it turns out that there is a history of breast cancer on your father's side of the family, then the age at which you start screening might be younger, which means that you may want to remove the fibroadenoma sooner rather than later.  But for now, at the age of 22, you still have time to make this decision.  The fibroadenoma does not need to be removed now.

leaf

If your father, sisters, paternal aunts, paternal grandmother had breast cancer (particularly if the breast cancer in women was before menopause) , then that would be a pattern that is more seen in BRCA mutations.  If you had a rotten family history, then your chances of having breast cancer would increase.

About 70% of women who get breast cancer have NO obvious risk factors (besides being a woman.) About 15% of all breast cancers are hereditary. The mean age to get breast cancer is 61.