Cancer Center

The Genetics of Breast and Ovarian Cancer

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the lifetime risk for a woman to develop breast cancer is 12.8 percent or one in eight, while the lifetime risk to develop ovarian cancer is a little greater than 1 percent (1.4 percent, or one in 70).

Approximately 5 percent to 10 percent of breast and ovarian cancers are due to known predisposing genetic factors. This means that the majority of breast and ovarian cancers are, in fact, not inherited. Consider the following:

Of those cases of breast cancer that are inherited:

20 percent to 40 percent are due to mutations in the BRCA1 gene
10 percent to 30 percent are due to mutations in the BRCA2 gene
<1 percent are due to mutations in the P53 gene
<1 percent are due to mutations in the PTEN gene
30 percent to 70 percent are due to other genes

Of those cases of ovarian cancer that are inherited:

70 percent are due to mutations in the BRCA1 gene
20 percent are due to mutations in the BRCA2 gene
2 percent are due to mutations in the genes that cause HNPCC (hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer)
8 percent are due to other genes

There are several genetic syndromes associated with an increased risk for breast and/or ovarian cancer that require clinical care by a physician or other healthcare professional. Listed in the directory below are some, for which we have provided a brief overview.

If you cannot find the information in which you are interested, please visit the Online Resources page in this Web site for an Internet/World Wide Web address that may contain additional information on that topic.

Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Programs at
Rush University Medical Center in Chicago

At Rush, we offer a range of standard and investigational therapies for the treatment of cancer. We have more than a dozen programs specializing in the treatment of specific cancers, including:

Bone Cancer
Brain Cancer
Breast Cancer
Colorectal Cancer
Gynecological Cancers
Head and Neck Cancers
Hematological Malignancies
(cancers of the blood and lymph system)
Leukemia
Lung Cancer
Lymphoma
Myeloma
Orthopedic Cancers
Prostate Cancer
Radiation Oncology
Skin Cancers

Rush cancer programs are approved by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. Only one in four hospitals that treat cancer receive this special approval.

Click here to visit the home page for Cancer Programs at Rush.

Cancer Screening and Prevention
Cancer screening and prevention are priorities at Rush. Through genetic testing, counseling and advanced techniques for early detection, Rush helps people with a strong history of breast, ovarian, colon and other cancers. And in our state-of-the-art mammography center, we have one of the city’s finest teams of radiologists dedicated to early detection of breast cancer.

Cancer Support Programs at Rush
Cancer is not only a physical ordeal, it is also an emotional one, affecting cancer patients, their family and friends. To help address the whole person, we offer a number of resources to help patients and their loved ones cope in this difficult time.

For information on the cancer support programs at Rush click here.

Clinical Trials
Rush offers a number of clinical trials of experimental cancer treatments. Use the links below to search for studies for a particular form of cancer. If you are interested in exploring your eligibility for one of our open trials, please call (312) 942-8312. If we do not list trials for a particular type of cancer, please feel free to call us to discuss other treatment options.

For information on cancer clinical trial programs at Rush click here.

Find a Specialist at Rush
To find a cancer specialist at Rush, click on one of the following links:

To find specialist at Rush in other cancer-related areas, click on one of the following links:

Or make an appointment with a doctor at Rush by calling our toll-free physician referral number:

(888) 352-RUSH.

To reach the hospital operator, call (312) 942-5000. If you have difficulty hearing, call (312) 942-2207 (TTY/TTD).