Team Cancer Fall 2016 Newsletter

Team Cancer
Your Link to Cancer Care in Your Community

FALL 2016

Focus on Genetics

Everyone has a possibility of developing cancer in their lifetime.

Most cancers happen by chance. About five to ten percent of

cancers are due to an inherited predisposition.

Our Genetics clinics in Central East Region evaluate individuals

who have a strong personal and/or family history of cancer.

We can help you understand your risk for cancer based on your

medical and family history; the medical facts about a hereditary

cancer; whether genetic testing may be beneficial for you

or your relatives; and your options for managing your risk of

developing cancer.

The Genetics team also provides assessment for eligibility for

the High-Risk Ontario Breast Screening Program.

If you live in Central East Region, you may be referred to the

Genetics program at Lakeridge Health in Oshawa, Rouge

Valley Health Centenary in Scarborough or at Peterborough

Regional Health Centre.

Should you be tested?

A genetics assessment may be suggested for you if you have:

multiple cases of cancer in your family, especially of the same type of cancer

cancers occurring at an unusually young age (e.g. colon cancer before 50, breast cancer before age 35)

a rare cancer in your family (e.g. breast cancer in a male)

more than one cancer diagnosis (e.g. a woman with breast and ovarian cancer)

a family history of a known hereditary cancer syndrome (e.g. Hereditary breast/ovarian cancer)

To learn more, visit www.yourcancerexperts.ca and click on "Hereditary Cancer Genetics".

Do you have a family history of breast cancer?

The Ontario Breast Screening Program

offers high risk screening by mammogram

and MRI.

You may be eligible if you are 30 - 69 years old and have a personal or family history of:

Two or more cases of breast/ovarian cancers
Breast cancer at less than 35 years of age
Breast/ovarian cancer in Ashkenazi Jewish families
Male breast cancer
Bilateral breast cancer
A mutation in a breast cancer-associated gene

Ask your health care provider about a referral to a local genetics clinic
for evaluation.

Did you know...

Lakeridge Health in Central East Region has been chosen as one of three sites for a new High Risk Lung Cancer Screening Pilot in Ontario.

You can learn more about this and a new Thoracic Surgery Collaboration for the community of Scarborough in the Winter 2017 edition of Team Cancer. Keep watching!

Your Care

Maria's Mission Sheds Light on the Importance of Being Testing For Hereditary Cancers.