Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Clinic

Are you concerned about your risk of breast cancer?

Today, women have more information about their breast cancer risk than past generations ever had. Learning more about your risk can be the first step in preventing the disease or catching it at its earliest, most treatable stage. And if a woman is identified as high risk, she has more options for prevention.

For individuals with certain breast cancer risk factors, such as family history, Edward-Elmhurst Health offers a Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Clinic to help you manage your risk.

Your nurse navigator will first help you determine and understand your risk. This may include additional breast cancer screening and/or genetic testing to determine if concerning gene mutations (for example, a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2) are present. Based on the assessment, we'll help you decide what course of prevention and/or surveillance to take.

If you are considered to be high risk, you may meet with a genetic counselor, medical oncologist and/or surgeon to discuss an individualized plan of action.

Your personalized breast cancer risk reduction plan will take into account individual emotional experiences and quality of life issues. Your plan may include:

• Increased surveillance
• More frequent mammograms and/or additional imaging tests, such as breast MRI
• Genetic testing and counseling to identify if you are at increased risk for a hereditary breast cancer predisposition
• Medication for risk reduction and cancer prevention, such as Tamoxifen
• Surgical intervention for those at highest risk

Your physician and nurse navigator will help coordinate the services you receive in our Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Clinic. You'll find the information and support you need to better understand your risk and make informed decisions.

Talk to your doctor or call our Breast Cancer Center and a nurse navigator will answer your questions or schedule an appointment/telephone call with you.

For Edward Hospital, call 630-527-5365. For Elmhurst Hospital, call 331-221-6037.

How can I determine if I am at high risk?

To help you assess your risk of developing breast cancer, answer these five questions:

1. Do you have a family or personal history of:
   
   1. Breast cancer before age 50?
   2. Breast cancer in two or more close relatives on the same side of the family?*
   3. Breast cancer in a male relative?
   4. Breast cancer in both breasts or twice in the same breast?
   5. Ovarian cancer at any age?
2. Do you have a family member who has a known mutation in BRCA1, BRCA2 or another breast cancer susceptibility gene?
3. Do you have a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation?
4. Do you have a history of biopsy-proven atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), atypical lobular hyperplasia (ALH), or lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS)?
5. Have you had chest wall radiation (for example, in treatment for Hodgkin’s disease) between ages 10 and 30?

*Definition of close relatives: mother, father, sister, daughter, brother, son, aunt, uncle, grandmother, grandfather, granddaughter, grandson, niece, nephew, half-brother or half-sister.

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you may be at an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Contact your doctor to ask about next steps.