This is the only long-term study of women with a strong family history of breast cancer who do not carry a mutation in one of the two breast cancer genes (BRCA1/BRCA2).

Its purpose is to better understand the interactions between various factors that may be associated with breast cancer development in women from high-risk families. Click here to view the Investigators Brochure.

Background:
Approximately 15% of women with a diagnosis of breast cancer have a family history of breast cancer. Within this 15%, approximately 1 out of 4 carry a mutation in one of the two known breast cancer genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2. This means that the majority of women that qualify for genetic testing receive uninformative results, despite their elevated significant family history of breast cancer.

Women who have a significant* family breast cancer

*Significant Family History is defined as having: three breast cancers at any age OR two breast cancers diagnosed under the age of 50, on one side of the family (within first and second degree relatives).

history are two to four times more likely to develop breast cancer than females without a significant family history, even if they do not have a 'breast cancer gene' mutation (BRCA1 and BRCA2). There is currently little information available to inform these women and their physicians about screening and prevention practices. Your individual risk of developing breast cancer may vary from this number, and as part of this study, we hope to better understand the influence of family history on the risk of developing breast cancer.

Why is This Research Being Done?
We hope to better understand the interaction between various factors that may be associated with breast cancer development in women of high-risk families. Assessing risk factors that may influence breast cancer in high-risk women may lead to improving prevention strategies, counseling and treatment provided for women from families with no known genetic mutations.

What Does Participation Entail?
Participants will receive study package through the mail that will be completed and returned to the Familial Breast Cancer Research unit. The study package contains a consent form, medical release for and a baseline questionnaire. The questionnaire asks about health and lifestyle. This will take around 30 minutes to complete. A similar, but shorter, questionnaire will be completed every two years, for over a 10 year period. Also, in order to analyze DNA, hormones and vitamins, we hope to arrange a single clinic visit to collect one sample of each: blood, urine and toenails.