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Cancer
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Paternal grandmother — Breast cancer link?
Originally Published: June 19, 1998
~ Last Updated / Reviewed on: October 26, 2001
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Dear Alice,
My father's mother had breast cancer and died around the age of 45 - 50. Can I possibly get it through my father, or can you only contract it through heredity if it's passed on through females? Dear Reader, Family history is important in figuring out a person's risk for breast cancer, but family history is a broad term that also includes factors such as family lifestyle and/or specific genetic mutations. A certain lifestyle or a specific mutation can increase a person's risk for breast cancer. The good news is that lifestyles can be changed and inheriting an altered or mutated gene that has been linked to breast cancer does not mean that breast cancer will develop. In fact, the American Cancer Society states that only "5% to 10% of breast cancer cases are hereditary as a result of gene changes (mutations)." Certain mutated genes can be passed through the mother or the father. This is seen most commonly in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BReast CAncer 1 and 2) genes, which are found on chromosome #17 and #13, respectively. Because these genes are found on these particular chromosomes (and not sex chromosomes), a son or daughter can receive altered BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes from either the mother or the father (men can get breast cancer, too, but the risk of developing it is much lower). Every person, regardless of whether or not s/he has or will have breast cancer, has two copies of the BRCA1 gene (one on each chromosome #17) and two copies of the BRCA2 gene (one on each chromosome #13). Mutations in one or both copies of either gene can increase the risk of developing breast cancer. If, as it may be in this case, a mother has an altered gene that can increase her risk of developing breast cancer on a chromosome that is not a sex chromosome, then there is approximately a 50/50 chance that she will pass that altered gene onto her son or daughter. If the son or daughter received a copy of the mutated gene, there is again about a 50/50 chance that s/he will pass it on to his/her son or daughter. If the son or daughter did not receive a copy of the mutated gene, it is unlikely that he or she will pass on a defective copy of the gene on to the next generation, unless that gene somehow becomes mutated. If you have other questions or would like more literature, here are some organizations to contact:
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