Week devoted to raising awareness of inherited risks of developing cancer

On September 15th, 2010, in a unanimous show of support, the House of Representatives voted to pass a resolution designating the first-ever National Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) Week and National Previvor Day. National HBOC Week 2010 is this week — September 26 — October 2, 2010. It’s meant to raise awareness of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. National Previvor Day, September 29, is meant to call attention to the many individuals who carry an inherited predisposition to cancer but have not developed the disease. “Three-quarters of a million Americans are estimated to carry an inherited gene mutation that causes a strong predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer,” explained Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). “These hereditary risk factors affect thousands of American ‘previvors’—survivors of a predisposition to cancer.” Certain genetic mutations significantly increase risk of breast and ovarian cancer. “BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations place a woman’s lifetime breast cancer risk as high as 85% and ovarian cancer risk as high as 50 percent, both significantly greater than that of the general population. Families with an inherited BRCA mutation have the highest known risk for both cancers, and multiple family members are often affected. Knowing one’s family health history is critical. Cancers tend to be more aggressive in women with BRCA mutations, and occur at a younger age, when individuals are less likely to undergo routine cancer screening …