Taking Family History Seriously
Authors: Wylie Burke
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2005)

Editorials6 September 2005Taking Family History SeriouslyWylie Burke, MD, PhDWylie Burke, MD, PhDFrom University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7120.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-143-5-200509060-00015 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail With the completion of the Human Genome Project, experts forecast an era of "personalized medicine," in which measures of individual susceptibility would be used to tailor disease prevention (1, 2). The promise is still largely in the future, but tests for BRCA mutations represent an early example of this paradigm. Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes confer an elevated risk for breast and ovarian cancer (3). Several preventive measures have been recommended for women with these mutations, including prophylactic surgery and aggressive early cancer screening. These recommendations were made initially on the basis of expert opinion (4). Therefore, the ...References1. Hood L, Heath JR, Phelps ME, Lin B. Systems biology and new technologies enable predictive and preventative medicine. Science. 2004;306:640-3. [PMID: 15499008] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Collins FS. Shattuck lecture—medical and societal consequences of the Human Genome Project. N Engl J Med. 1999;341:28-37. [PMID: 10387940] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Antoniou A, Pharoah PD, Narod S, Risch HA, Eyfjord JE, Hopper JL, et al. Average risks of breast and ovarian cancer associated with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations detected in case series unselected for family history: a combined analysis of 22 studies. Am J Hum Genet. 2003;72:1117-30. [PMID: 12677558] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Burke W, Daly M, Garber J, Botkin J, Kahn MJ, Lynch P, et al. Recommendations for follow-up care of individuals with an inherited predisposition to cancer. II. BRCA1 and BRCA2. Cancer Genetics Studies Consortium. JAMA. 1997;277:997-1003. [PMID: 9091675] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Nelson HD, Huffman LH, Fu R, Harris EL. Genetic risk assessment and BRCA mutation testing for breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility: systematic evidence review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Ann Intern Med. 2005;143:362-79. LinkGoogle Scholar6. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Genetic risk assessment and BRCA mutation testing for breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility: recommendation statement. Ann Intern Med. 2005;143:355-61. LinkGoogle Scholar7. Suther S, Goodson P. Barriers to the provision of genetic services by primary care physicians: a systematic review of the literature. Genet Med. 2003;5:70-6. [PMID: 12644775] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. Rich EC, Burke W, Heaton CJ, Haga S, Pinsky L, Short MP, et al. Reconsidering the family history in primary care. J Gen Intern Med. 2004;19:273-80. [PMID: 15009784] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. Yarnall KS, Pollak KI, Ostbye T, Krause KM, Michener JL. Primary care: is there enough time for prevention? Am J Public Health. 2003;93:635-41. [PMID: 12660210] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. Guttmacher AE, Collins FS, Carmona RH. The family history—more important than ever. N Engl J Med. 2004;351:2333-6. [PMID: 15564550] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar11. Yoon PW, Scheuner MT, Peterson-Oehlke KL, Gwinn M, Faucett A, Khoury MJ. Can family history be used as a tool for public health and preventive medicine? Genet Med. 2002;4:304-10. [PMID: 12172397] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar12. Wainberg S, Husted J. Utilization of screening and preventive surgery among unaffected carriers of a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2004;13:1989-95. [PMID: 15598752] MedlineGoogle Scholar13. Pharoah PD. Genetic susceptibility, predicting risk and preventing cancer. Recent Results Cancer Res. 2003;163:7-18; discussion 264-6. [PMID: 12903839] Google Scholar14. Frank TS, Deffenbaugh AM, Reid JE, Hulick M, Ward BE, Lingenfelter B, et al. Clinical characteristics of individuals with germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2: analysis of 10,000 individuals. J Clin Oncol. 2002;20:1480-90. [PMID: 11896095] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7120.Disclosures: None disclosed.Corresponding Author: Wylie Burke, MD, PhD, Department of Medical History and Ethics, University of Washington, Box 356120, 1959 NE Pacific, Room A204, Seattle, WA 98195-7120; e-mail, [email protected]washington.edu. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoGenetic Risk Assessment and BRCA Mutation Testing for Breast and Ovarian Cancer Susceptibility: Recommendation StatementGenetic Risk Assessment and BRCA Mutation Testing for Breast and Ovarian Cancer Susceptibility: Systematic Evidence Review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Heidi D. Nelson , Laurie Hoyt Huffman , Rongwei Fu , and Emily L. Harris Metrics Cited byAssociation of Percentage Body Fat and Metabolic Health in Offspring of Patients with Cardiovascular DiseasesTailored information increases patient/physician discussion of colon cancer risk and testing: The Cancer Risk Intake System trialMulti-source development of an integrated model for family health historyColorectal cancer risk assessment and screening recommendation: a community survey of healthcare providers' practice from a patient perspectiveFamily History AssessmentUtilidad de la Genética Clínica en la práctica médicaData-Based Considerations for Electronic Family Health History ApplicationsPrimary care physicians' use of family history for cancer risk assessmentCase 2: Making a diagnosis: Lest we forget the familyColorectal CancerGuidelines for Genetic Risk Assessment of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer: Early Disagreements and Low UtilizationColorectal CancerAnticipating dissemination of cancer genomics in public health: A theoretical approach to psychosocial and behavioral challengesUpstream ethics in nanomedicine: a call for researchScreening Patients with a Family History of Colorectal CancerValidation of a Self-Administered, Computerized Tool for Collecting and Displaying the Family History of Cancer 6 September 2005Volume 143, Issue 5Page: 388-389KeywordsBreast cancerCancer screeningGenetic testingHereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancerMedical geneticsMutationOophorectomyOvarian cancerSurgery ePublished: 6 September 2005 Issue Published: 6 September 2005 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2005 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...