A strong family history of breast cancer greatly increases a woman's risk of developing the disease. This means that, for the first time, it is possible to identify women at high risk of developing breast cancer and to begin to develop appropriate services for them. The Centre has worked towards ensuring that women and their doctors have accurate information about familial breast cancer and that appropriate, cost effective and high quality service delivery models are established. This approach may form a model for addressing the familial aspects of other types of cancer. The Genetic Testing Working Group, chaired by Associate Professor John Hopper, guided the work in this area.
Many women are unclear about the causes of breast cancer.
They overestimate the importance of family history and do not recognise that risk increases with age. This may mean that some women discount their own risk of developing breast cancer and may therefore not take part in early detection programs. The confusion about risk factors for breast cancer is exacerbated by conflicting media reports. These often highlight early findings from research that may later be discounted. Even public information brochures sometimes contain misleading information about the causes of breast cancer.