Dr. Phan Thi Hong Duc - Head of the Department of Breast, Digestive, Hepatobiliary and Urological Medicine, Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital said that cancer is not only caused by risk factors or changes in living environment, but is also a genetic disease.
Some cancers, such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancer, can be hereditary. Depending on the type of cancer and the associated characteristics, the doctor will assess whether the patient has a family history.
For example, breast cancer is often related to age, but if the patient is young (30-40 years old) or has many relatives in the family carrying the gene mutation, the risk of the disease running in the family will increase. In addition, some ethnicities such as Jews have the highest risk of hereditary breast cancer.
According to Dr. Hong Duc, to determine whether a patient has hereditary breast cancer, the doctor will evaluate the family tree and risk factors to decide whether genetic testing is needed, for example, testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations. In the case of triple-negative breast cancer, the rate of carrying the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes is about 17%, while in the positive or double-negative endocrine type, this rate is equivalent.
Similarly, for hereditary ovarian cancer, the doctor will consider age, family history, and the pathological characteristics of the tumor. Other cancers will be evaluated similarly.
If a patient is identified as carrying a genetic mutation associated with the disease, the doctor will consider the patient's current medical condition.
For patients who carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation and have the disease, targeted therapies will be used to increase survival rates.
"If a person carries a mutated gene but is not yet sick, they will be screened and monitored more closely than people who do not carry the gene. For example, people carrying a mutated gene will be screened for breast cancer 10 years earlier than normal people, and use breast MRI instead of mammography or ultrasound," Dr. Hong Duc emphasized.
For colorectal cancer in particular, genetic mutation tests will help assess whether the patient belongs to the family group of diseases or not. From there, the patient will be closely monitored and treated to reduce the risk of disease.
