How young is too young?

Hi Aimeeloumcd,

Your family has been through so much, I have a similar story but the other way round, my Nan survived her BC back in the 60's in her mid 40's. My Mum lost her fight to secondary BC as a Brain Tumour in her mid 60's. Her primary was at 59 and initially inoperable. But was treated successfully at that stage with chemo, mastectomy & radiation therapy. She was given given all clear but 5 years later started having dizzy spells and it was a swift decline to her passing in 2014.

You are within your rights as an adult to ask for a referral to a genetic Councillor. They will then guide you through the process of understanding your family history and deciding if you wish to find out if you carry a genetic mutation. Your GP is NOT qualified to make this decision for you and veto you from the opportunity of accessing support and potential life saving screening programs.

What I would add though is that your Mum ideally should get referred first with you second. That's if she hasn't pursued a test for genetic mutations before now. My family did it the wrong way round and then were advised it's easier to trace/track the mutation in someone who has already had cancer. They can then pinpoint the exact mutation from your mums samples and records and then that makes checking you easier.

It just pushed back a long process for me as I then had to get re-referred after my mum had her confirmation of a BRCA2 mutation. Back in the mid 2010's it was a 6-12 month wait. What with COVID times it could be even longer.

You can decide to ask for screening if you wanted and not have the test until later. You do have 2 direct blood relatives with a cancer diagnosis well before 60 if not 40/30 and that alone puts you at a higher risk.

Just another advisory you may have to prepare yourself for some false positives. Under the age of 40 your breast tissue is so dense its hard for them to see clearly.

Any questions please feel free to ask.

Kind regards

Anne