my paternal grandmother had breast cancer, so did her mother. I got it in the SAME breast at about the same age. Don't let anyone tell you the paternal genes don't matter.

A good read, for anyone interested in the treatment and some of what is known about the causes of cancer:
The Emperor of All Maladies. It's very clear and easy to read.

@A MyBCTeam Member, 80% of BC is "spontaneous" meaning that it isn't genetic. The cancer was caused by a cell that divided incorrectly causing a mutation in that new cell that keep reproducing more of those same mutated cells until a mass formed. Injuries can sometimes cause the cells to mutate as well. And as we get older our individual cells ability to divide/reproduce correctly diminishes which is why BC used to be considered an "older woman's disease". Now, with advances in testing I truly believe we are just finding it much earlier so the percentage of younger/middle aged women has increased exponentially as early detection technology has advanced.

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A MyBCTea...

I have already had the blood draw and it will arrive at Myriad on Tuesday morning. As I said, my maternal grandmother and her sister both had breast cancer in both breasts..ages 51 and 81. I had breast cancer. My paternal grandmother had cervical cancer and I, by approx 2 months missed having cervical cancer. My cervical biopsy was bad and I had surgery within a week. No one has had Ovarian cancer. But I want to know for myself, my daughters, and my sisters. I went to our local Cancer center to fill out the paperwork for the testing and in speaking to "Lynn" who has been in the cancer field for years and went thru her own breast cancer just this year, she was alarmed by reading the note from my Oncologist in 1998. She said no where does it say pos. or neg. ER or PR nor dies it say Triple Negative. Nor did you take Tamox. It simply said DCIS , 2 cm, nuclear grade 2. Lynn is requesting records from Oncol. and Surgeon to see if she can figure out other information to help clear up if I am pos. or neg. or Triple Neg. So all in all, we both agreed testing is the best thing at this point. I am going to make an appt. with an Oncologist this week and going to schedule an MRI. My Ins. pays for both MRI and Mammo. I still have my ovaries and that's a great concern. We talked about having a double mastectomy and remove my ovaries so keep my risk much lower. No decision will be made til the results come back and we have the Surg. and Oncol. recoreds. As I see it, each one of us has a story and make choices on what's best for us and our family, and we are the ones that live with what we choose. I want a long life with my husband of 2 years and will do what I need to do to make that happen.....

Just because we are negative for BRCA doesn't mean that our daughters are not at higher risk for the disease than other girls. They are! They have a first degree relative and so we really just don't know if there are perhaps other genes playing a role that are yet unidentified. My daughter's dermatologist would not put her on the birth control pill for her acne by the mere fact that she is already at increased risk for breast cancer and the pill contributes another risk factor.