There are several reasons you may see a cancer genetic counselor:
- To understand cancer risks for you and your relatives
- To discuss personalized cancer screening and prevention recommendations
- To discuss available genetic testing options
- To guide surgical and chemotherapy decisions for a cancer diagnosis.
Specific cancer histories signal that a cancer genetic counselor appointment is appropriate. These include a personal and/or family history of:
- Cancer occurring at younger ages (such as breast, colon or uterine cancer before age 50)
- Two or more separate cancers in one individual
- Pattern of multiple close relatives diagnosed with cancers
- Pattern of cancers that fits a known inherited cause (e.g. breast and ovarian cancers linked with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, or colon and uterine cancers linked with Lynch syndrome)
- Presence of a specific cancer: ovarian, male breast cancer, adrenal cortical carcinoma, pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma
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