With a family history of breast cancer, when's the best time for me to get m!

I would suggest that you talk with your doctor and get his/her recommendations after you explain your family history and your concerns!. Ask him to be directed to a genetic counselor who can explain everything - there is alot of information which can easily be confused as it depends on your particular family history, age at diagnosis, etc, etc!.

With that said, my doctor recommended that I start getting mammograms at age 30 and do monthly breast self exams because my mother had breast cancer!. She said it is important to have a clean baseline mammogram to compare any changes against it with future mammograms!. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 49 and at age 62 in the opposite breast!.!.!.!.and my great Aunt (my mothers Aunt) was also diagnosed with breast cancer before 50 and then ten years later developed it in the opposite breast as well!.!.!.!.also another one of her relatives died from ovarian cancer in her later years!. Due to our family history, my mother was tested for the genetic breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 to see if she was a carrier of this gene mutation!. The test came back negative!.!.!.which means that she didn't have the breast cancer gene and therefore could not have passed it down to me so there was no need for me to be tested!. However, the genetic counselor was very quick to mention that just because we don't have this genetic mutation, that doesn't mean I am out of the woods and I should be adamant about checking for lumps and getting my annual mammograms!. He mentioned that just because there are only two genetic breast cancer mutations they have identified (which we don't carry) and test for, there is still a chance that there are other breast cancer genetic mutations that have not been identified yet and therefore are not tested for!. Also, he stated that anytime your mother has breast cancer, that automatically puts you in a higher risk category regardless of whether or not you have the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene!. Basically, he wanted to make sure I get checked and not look at the negative BRCA test as a get out of cancer free card!. As I'm sure you know, early detection is very important!.

EDIT>>>I wanted to add something!.!.!.!.If your family tests negative for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutation, your risk of developing breast cancer is still doubled simply because your mother has breast cancer!. If you have two first degree relatives (mother, sister or daughter) with breast cancer then your risk is increased five fold!. Here is the article from ACS which details breast cancer risks!. It discusses family history factors as well as BRCA genetic mutations!. http://www!.cancer!.org/docroot/CRI/conten!.!.!.

Here is another article with a little further clarification on BRCA testing - http://www!.breastcancer!.org/risk/genetic!.!.!. !. It states that if your family CARRIES THE GENE and you do not - then your risk is about normal!. However, if your family TESTS NEGATIVE AND YOU TEST NEGATIVE and you have a family history of breast cancer (particularly at a younger age) then affected members may have an inherited genetic abnormality that has not yet been identified!. In this scenario, it is suggested you have start mammograms at age 25 or 10 years before the earliest age at which a family member was diagnosed

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