Paternal vs. Maternal Aunt BC

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Lisazc
Lisazc Member Posts: 14
edited June 2014 in High Risk for Breast Cancer

Hi,

 I apologize if this question is too basic, but I have a Paternal Aunt that has had BC (don't know any details other than it started in her 30s and has come back two times since) and was wondering if Paternal Aunt increases my risk of developing cancer.

I am currently waiting on an excisional biopsy for an "atypical cyst" that is highly vascular in very very dense breasts. 

I don't really know my Aunt well (she lives far), but I'm wondering if getting more information from her would help knowing my risk?  Or if it doesn't matter since she's a Paternal aunt? I do take 95% after that side of the family though.  The only thing I outwardly have gotten from my mother is my lip shape.

 Thank you!

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  • mdoak
    mdoak Member Posts: 219
    edited May 2011

    Paternal aunt carries same weight as maternal aunt, my breast surgeon told me. And that she was premenopausal also matters. Some doctors and insurance companies discount the risk from the paternal side--so be aware.

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  • J9W
    J9W Member Posts: 395
    edited May 2011

    Yikes:  BC in my family - my mom, her sister, my dad's mom,  his sister, and now me. May it stay away from the rest of my family!

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  • Kezzie62
    Kezzie62 Member Posts: 189
    edited May 2011

    There is no cancer on my maternal side only my paternal side.  Genetic counsellor told me the risk is from both sides of a family as your DNA is 50% maternal & 50% paternal.

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  • Leah_S
    Leah_S Member Posts: 8,458
    edited May 2011

    Lisa, I hope your biopsy comes back benign - remember that 80% do.

    Family history is tha same for mother's or father's side of the family. I have an extensive family history on my father's side. I don't think you need to ask your aunt anything more right now, though, since it won't change anything. If the biopsy comes back with an answer you don't want, then you might want to ask her if she was tested for the BRCA gene mutation. If she was & it is positive then it would be a good idea for you to be tested, too, since it can have an impact on your treatment choices. However, please realize that THIS IS INFORMATION YOU DON'T NEED RIGHT NOW!

    Whether it increases your chance right now is irrelevant - you either have a benign lump or you don't.  And I so much hope it is, indeed, benign.

    Best of luck.

    Leah

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  • Lisazc
    Lisazc Member Posts: 14
    edited May 2011

    Thanks all!

    I am having a very anxious day today.  I wish I could be easy going and laid back about this! 

    Lisa

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  • shells43
    shells43 Member Posts: 1,022
    edited May 2011

    Good Morning Lisa,

    My paternal aunt and I are the only ones in our family who ever had breast cancer. Our cancers and treatments were very different. My parents were divorced when I was a baby so I have never met this aunt, not that it matters, but I never thought to ask about BC on that side of the family until AFTER I was diagnosed. She had significant risk factors, (no children, over 50) and 1 cm tumor IDC. I was 43 at dx with a big 9 cm tumor of IDC, after breast feeding two kids in my 20's. I do not think any family history can be ignored.

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