Genetic Counseling and Risk Assessment
At the Knight Cancer Institute, we’re committed to helping you lower your cancer risk.
For some patients, this involves genetic counseling and testing. Our medical geneticists and genetic counselors can guide you through options and help you decide next steps.
Understanding genetic risk
Some cancers run in families because members pass a gene that has a defect, or mutation, from one generation to the next. These genes play a role in about 5 percent to 10 percent of cancers.
If you have such a gene, it doesn't mean you will definitely get cancer. It means only that your risk is higher. Once you know, you can take steps to lower your risk and to increase screening for early detection.
It’s also important to understand that cancer can run in families because of environmental factors -- such as smoking or too much sun exposure -- that have nothing to do with inherited traits.
Family history
A genetic mutation might be suspected in a family:
- With several members having the same cancer.
- With a member who has had more than one type of cancer.
- With rare cancers, such as ovarian or male breast cancer.
- With cancer in people younger than 50.
- In an ethnic group associated with a mutation.
Inherited cancers
Researchers have identified more than 50 “hereditary cancer syndromes.” Types include:
What to expect
The OHSU Knight Cancer Institute is the only Oregon cancer center with board-certified medical geneticists specifically trained to determine the risk of hereditary cancer syndromes. Our medical geneticists and genetic counselors will:
- Review your family history and/or your history of cancer
- Discuss cancer genetics and testing options
- Coordinate testing, if needed
- Review insurance, if needed
- Arrange a follow-up visit to review results
- Conduct an individual risk assessment
- Talk with you about ways to lower your risk, such as:
- Screening
- Lifestyle changes such as getting exercise and stopping smoking
- Preventive options, such as mastectomy for someone at high risk of breast cancer
Our team
Learn more
- Frequently asked questions
- Breast genetic counseling at OHSU
- Help Me Understand Genetics, Genetics Home Reference, U.S. National Library of Medicine
- BRCA1 and BRCA2: Cancer Risk and Genetic Testing, National Cancer Institute
- Lynch syndrome, Genetics Home Reference, U.S. National Library of Medicine
- Familial adenomatous polyposis, Genetics Home Reference, U.S. National Library of Medicine
- Cowden syndrome, Genetics Home Reference, U.S. National Library of Medicine
- Li-Fraumeni syndrome, Genetics Home Reference, U.S. National Library of Medicine
- Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, Genetics Home Reference, U.S. National Library of Medicine
- Multiple endocrine neoplasia , Genetics Home Reference, U.S. National Library of Medicine