Genetic Testing Fact Sheet - NCI (family history 'red flags' to look for)

National Cancer Institute


....The features of a person’s personal or family medical history that, particularly in combination, may suggest a hereditary cancer syndrome include:

• Cancer that was diagnosed at an unusually young age
• Several different types of cancer that have occurred independently in the same person
• Cancer that has developed in both organs in a set of paired organs, such as both kidneys or both breasts
• Several close blood relatives that have the same type of cancer (for example, a mother, daughter, and sisters with breast cancer)
• Unusual cases of a specific cancer type (for example, breast cancer in a man)
• The presence of birth defects, such as certain noncancerous (benign) skin growths or skeletal abnormalities, that are known to be associated with inherited cancer syndromes
• Being a member of a racial/ethnic group that is known to have an increased chance of having a certain hereditary cancer syndrome and having one or more of the above features as well.....