Genetic

Anyone who’s keeping track knows that women who have family members who have had breast cancer are more likely to also develop the disease might infer that breast cancer is genetic. The bottom line is that breast cancer genetics can go either way. Yes, there is a correlation between relatives having breast cancer and it developing later on in life; however, there is no rule that someone who has family members who had it will also develop it. The correlation is not a 1:1 relationship.

Although there is no reason to think that you will develop breast cancer simply because your grandmother had it, there is lots of genetic testing for breast cancer going on in the medical world nowadays. If you are worried about the genetics/breast cancer relationship, you should definitely talk with your doctor about your worries. While there is no reason to worry, there is a certain breast cancer genetic component. Unfortunately, there is a general cancer component that runs in families. Not only are genetics and breast cancer related, having a cancer of any type increases the chances that your relatives will also have some type of cancer at some time in their lives.

Beating The Genetic Component

Women who have many relatives who have previously had breast cancer will want to take extra precautions in their lives in order to reduce their risk of also developing the disease. Some alternative genetic breast cancer treatments target the body as a whole; doctors don’t even necessarily see such treatments as treatments, instead they see them as a kind of holistic living experience to reduce the risk of developing the disease. It should be noted that such a healthy holistic lifestyle also could help to prevent the development of other health problems and complications in addition to breast cancer.

Having a doctor do breast cancer genetic testing can help alleviate one’s fears about the genetic link to breast cancer for women who have many relatives who have had breast cancer. These women will want to keep genetics and familial breast cancer in mind and let their doctors know about their family history in order to ensure proper precautions. On the other hand, the genetics of sporadic breast cancer do not point to concrete correlations between one relative having breast cancer and another developing it. For this reason, women should keep genetics in mind but not become obsessed and fatalistic about it.