The Importance of Understanding Your Family History of Breast Cancer [Video]

NARRATOR: Understanding your family history of cancer is important for understanding your own risk.

About 5 to 10 breast cancers out of 100 are because of a single gene and may run in your family.

We get one set of genes from each of our parents. These genes are like instructions, telling our bodies how to build cells.

The genes most commonly affected in hereditary breast cancer are the breast cancer 1 and breast cancer 2 genes, called BRCA1 and BRCA2. Normally, these genes keep cancer cells from growing.

But sometimes they mutate and don’t work properly, which can lead to cancer.

Everyone has BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, but only about 1 in every 400 people in the United States has a mutation in either of these genes.

If either of your parents has a BRCA gene mutation, you have a 1 in 2 chance of having the same mutation.

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