Nearly half of all Americans will die of heart disease or cancer. We know there is a lot we can do to prevent both. That’s what we do at the Center for Advanced Medicine! Eat right, exercise daily, get plenty of sleep, manage your stress and take your vitamins! What about the things out of our control? What about the genetics?
Our doctors at the Center for Advanced Medicine are committed to helping you prevent cancer through diet, nutrition, exercise, sleep and toxin avoidance. We are also committed to using the best of individualized diagnostic medicine to determine your risk factors.
When someone close to you is diagnosed with cancer your whole world can change in an instant. When a family member is diagnosed you may start to fear you could be at risk of developing cancer. At the Center for Advanced Medicine we are now offering genetic screening for the most common hereditary or inherited cancers. A simple blood test provides genetic information we can use to further individualize the risks and benefits of birth control options and hormone replacement. The results of this new genetic test also help determine screening strategies so we can identify and treat cancer at the earliest possible stage.
In the general population the risk of breast cancer by the time you turn 70 is 8 in every 100 people. When a BRCA mutation is present that risk goes up to 87 out of 100. That means almost 9 out of 10 women with a BRCA mutation will have breast cancer by the age of 70. That is a very high risk and as a doctor I want to be sure that we are detecting early, preventing and reducing that risk as much as possible.
Since Angelina Jolie’s preventative mastectomy was made public many people have become aware of the BRCA genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. If you or a family member have experienced any of the following genetic cancer screening should be ordered by your doctor:
- Ovarian cancer
- Breast Cancer diagnosed before menopause
- Two primary breast cancers
- Male breast cancer
- Triple negative breast cancer
- Ashkenazi Jewish decent
- Three or more breast or ovarian cancers at any age
- A previously identified hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome mutation in the family
A lesser-known syndrome called Lynch Syndrome is just as common as Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome. Colon cancer is found in 2 out of 100 Americans. In Americans with Lynch Syndrome colon cancer is found in 82 out of 100 patients. Like most cancers when found early colon cancer is much easier to treat successfully.
Alert your doctor if any red flags associated with Lynch Syndrome are found in your family:
- Colorectal or endometrial cancer before the age of 50
- Two or more of the following cancers on either mother or father’s side
- Colorectal
- Endometrial
- Gastric
- Ovarian
- Ureter
- Renal
- Biliary tract
- Small bowel
- Pancreas
- Brain
- Sebaceous adenomas
- A previously identified Lynch syndrome mutation in the family
Knowing if you are at risk gives you the power to make well-informed medical management decisions. Talk to your doctor at The Center for Advanced Medicine if you have any questions about your cancer risk.
Written by Dr. Heather Sandison, ND
