Should I be worried??

My grandmother past-away from breast cancer in her early 80's, about 13 years ago. Her sister beat breast and colon cancer, but 2 weeks ago past-away at the age of 83. My father, who is 60, right now is fighting pancreatic cancer, and also lesions on his liver, he is in stage 4.

I am worried, because my grandmother had it, my father has it, am I next to get it, Im only 34 years old. What can I do to prevent this from happing, how can I tell if Im next to get it. Someone can please help, thank you!!

Most doctors would tell you not to worry.  Hereditary cancers tend to occur at younger ages (less than age 50).  The cancers in your family, at least the breast and colon cancers, are very common and could occur by chance, and appear unrelated.  You have cancers in only two generations, and your family does not have the same cancer in more than one generation.  You don't say whether you are male or female; if female, I would certainly let my doctor know about my family history and make sure I never missed a mammogram.  Researchers are still discovering new cancer mutations/syndromes, and it is impossible to prove a negative, that the cancer in your family is not hereditary.  Because, in most cases, it is difficult to prevent the occurrence of inherited cancer, I think it makes more sense to be tested early and often for the cancers that have occurred in other members of your family, even if they don't always fit a known inherited cancer syndrome.  You may get some extra tests, but you will catch any cancer at an early, cureable, stage.

Hi I am a stage IV colon cancer patient. I was diagnosed at 46 years old. In a way it is good that you are worried because it will encourage you to investigate and seek answers and knowledge is power. Finding the disease early can save your life.

I have HNPCC hereditary non-polyposis colorectal carcinoma. People with the mutated HNPCC gene have huge risks for gastrointestional cancers such as colon and pancreatic as well as uterine.

I would encourage you to discuss this with your doctor and ask for a referral to a genetic counselor. The genetic counselor will discuss your risks and advise you on whether a genetic test is appropriate for you.

In my case, if I had sought genetic counseling earlier I would have found out my huge risk for colon cancer (80%) and the appropriate course would have been annual colonoscopy (along with other tests). This would have caught the polyp early before cancer had begun.

Good luck. Karen