Before making a decision about whether to be tested, individuals would be wise to have their family history analyzed by a health professional experienced in cancer genetics, and to learn whether testing is available for the cancers of concern to them. If testing is available, an individual needs to determine the usefulness of the test in his or her situation. At the present time, even when many individuals in a family have cancer, testing may not provide information about risk, since not all mutations that increase cancer risk are known. At least five studies now show that women with close affected relatives who take replacement hormones at menopause are not at increased risk of breast cancer compared to women with similar family histories who do not take hormones. Risk information without time is generally uninformative.
Size is a most important prognostic indicator.