Daughter’s risk of prostate cancer

You daughter has a 50% chance of having the BRCA2 dna mutation from you. If she has the mutation she has an 80% risk of breast cancer. So it’s worth asking for checks if you can convince your team to get the test done.

My family have had a letter from the Amplitude trial I was on at the time which allowed them to be dna tested for BRCA2 and CHEK2 mutations. It’s a very slow process and not everyone wants to know.

In any case I is only a risk factor not a guaranteed outcome even if she has the mutation.

this is a quick response as I’m going out. But I’m sure someone will clarify the situation for you.

Thanks for fast and useful info

Only you and your wife can pass on the mutation if either of you have it. Once the mutation is gone it will never come back. It can only be passed on by a biological parent.

Hello Seagull

When my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer he was asked who else in the family had had a cancer. His. father died of it and his grandfather died of 'prostate problems which we suspect might have been cancer His mother died aged 49 with breast cancer. Her own mother died before 50 with breast cancer as did one of my husband's mother's nieces. My husband is an only child so, effectively, he has no surviving relations he knows about who are still alive except for our children and grandchildren. I was also asked about any occurences of cancer in my family but an aunt and a great aunt were not considered significant.

So, we were referred for genetic counselling on the NHS. We went through a questionnaire and then a telephone consultation in which we wwere told about the downside of genetic screening. My husband's blood was then screened for all known genes and came back negative. One of the downsides of all this is that they don't know what they don't know. There may be cancer causing genes out there that they have not yet discovered. With this in mind they sent letters to all 4 of our children - 2 ladies and 2 men all in their 40s. The girls are to have annual mammograms until they are 50. The boys are to have annual PSA tests for the rest of their lives. 3 of the 4 are compliant but one buries their head in the sand and declines to get tested - despite our heartfelt pleas.

I didnt think it would particularly worry me but the nearer it got to getting the results the more edgy I got because if my husband carried the faulty genes then our daughters would have to face a decision about preventative mastectomy etc. Fortunately, he tested negative! What a relief that was!

I hope this helps!

Thanks for your thoughtful and detailed reply - appreciate it. I’ve got some thinking to do I see and will ask my daughter what she’d like me to do first before starting the process.

Yes, we spoke with all 4 children as soon as we embarked on this journey. We wanted to know if my husband had the faulty gene whatever because this has implications for whether or not he was eligible for a particular drug if the cancer progressed. Our children actually wanted to know the results. Of course, it goes further than our children because we have grandchildren who might have been impacted. I forgot to say that they advised us to go through the process again in some 5 years time because they might have found more cancer- causing genes by then. So, the genetic counselling with a first good outcome is not the end of the saga, I’m afraid.

So, yes - lots to think about for everyone!