Genetic risk Lunch and Learn topic

  Cecile Skyrznia, a genetics counselor with UNC Linebarger Cancer Center, spoke on the genetic risk of getting cancer at the bi-weekly Lunch and Learn held in the Cancer Resource Center in Nags Head.

  Ninety percent of cancer is unrelated to genetics, she said, with  67 being the average age for a  diagnosis of cancer in the United States . Cancer that occurs in the forties is considered an early diagosis. For a genetic link a family history of a first- or second-degree relative having cancer must have the disease. A first degree relative is mother, father, sibling or child; second-degree is aunts or uncles. Doctors don’t usually consider cousins because the genetic make-up is extremely varied by then. In addition to a close relative being diagnosed with nonsmoking-related cancer at a young age, another red flag is seeing the same type of cancer on the same side of a family.

Other risks to consider are having more than one type of cancer and a two-sided cancer (such as both breasts), cancers occurring in  small group intermarriage situations, such as those of  Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry or people on a small island who have had little contact outside that small area. Sudden unexplained death and syncope (losing consciousness more than one time without a clear reason) can be an indication of cancer. To determine if there is a genetic risk a patient needs to produce medical records of an affected relative, pathology and surgical reports, death certificates, autopsy reports and witness accounts of a sudden death.

  Factors that should be considered when dealing with cancer are gender, age, family history, child bearing history, hormones taken, benign breast disease, lifestyle and radiation exposure. Having children at a young age seems to protect women from ovarian cancer, she said,  as does use of oral contraceptives, but using hormone replacement therapy after menopause can be a contributing factor to having gynecological cancers.  Lifestyle is also a factors, and being obese in your forties is not good. The BRCA -1 gene is responsible for 52 percent of breast and ovarian cancers  and the BRCA-2 gene, 32 percent, Skyrznia said. Early menarche (under the age of 12) is   an indicator of increased risk of gynecological cancers, and a first pregnancy after the age of 30 also indicates a high risk.

  In the case of colon cancer, a history of polyps, especially more that five or six, a family history of that cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and lifestyle factors all put a person at risk. About 5 percent of the population will have colon  cancer, Skyrznia said.  If a close relative had colon cancer, then a patient should have a colonoscopy at an age 10 years before the age of that relative when he or she was diagnosed. There are few effective tests to diagnose pancreatic cancer, she said in response to a question from the audience, but having pancreatitis is a risk indicator Johns Hopkins is the hospital with the most advanced work on pancreatic cancer.

  The next Lunch and Learn will be Friday, March 26 when Dr. Justin Yopp, PhD will speak on “Helping Family and Friends support a Cancer Diagnosis.“