Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Jalid Sehouli, Charité Berlin, speaks to a patient with a headscarf using a model of ovaries.

BRCA — Familial Breast and Ovarian Cancer Consultation Hours

Gene­tic muta­ti­ons can be signs or even trig­gers for indi­vi­du­al dise­a­ses. They are con­side­red indi­ca­tors for the ear­ly detec­tion of various dise­a­ses and are usual­ly pas­sed on through her­edi­ta­ry fac­tors. Many cli­nics the­r­e­fo­re offer spe­cial con­sul­ta­ti­on hours for gene­tic coun­seling on indi­vi­du­al cli­ni­cal pic­tures. Using cli­ni­cal and labo­ra­to­ry dia­gno­stics, risk assess­ment and pre­ven­ti­ve gene­tic coun­seling can be offe­red to pati­ents and their fami­lies. The aim is to enable a risk-adjus­ted ran­ge of pre­ven­ti­ve mea­su­res at an ear­ly stage.

The con­sul­ta­ti­on hour for fami­li­al breast and ova­ri­an can­cer rela­ted to the BRCA muta­ti­on is an alre­a­dy very estab­lished spe­cial consultation.

BRCA1, BRCA2 and carcinogenesis

Fre­quent occur­ren­ces of ova­ri­an (peri­to­ne­um) and / or breast can­cer in a fami­ly may indi­ca­te a con­ge­ni­tal gene­tic chan­ge. In up to about 10 per­cent of all women with breast can­cer and / or ova­ri­an can­cer, a dise­a­se-caus­ing chan­ge occurs pri­ma­ri­ly in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, which have been known sin­ce 1993. In recent years, a lar­ge num­ber of addi­tio­nal rele­vant genes have been dis­co­ver­ed, the chan­ges of which have been lin­ked to can­cer risks. As part of this deve­lo­p­ment, it also beca­me clear that gene­tic chan­ges not only play a role in breast and ova­ri­an can­cer, but also, for exam­p­le, in can­cer of the ute­ri­ne lining (endo­me­tri­al cancer).

Both affec­ted women with a pre­su­ma­b­ly con­ge­ni­tal muta­ti­on in the repair genes (e.g. BRCA1 / 2) and their healt­hy rela­ti­ves can bene­fit from gene­tic coun­seling. The risk asso­cia­ted with a gene­tic chan­ge varies great­ly from per­son to per­son. If the­re is a risk, it is exact­ly that: a risk. It does not mean that peo­p­le will ine­vi­ta­b­ly deve­lop can­cer at some point in their lives. If you want to know more pre­cis­e­ly whe­ther you are pos­si­bly at an increased risk, plea­se refer to our check­list. If one or more of the state­ments lis­ted the­re app­ly to you, a detail­ed con­sul­ta­ti­on in our spe­cial con­sul­ta­ti­on is par­ti­cu­lar­ly useful.

Center for Familial Breast and Ovarian Cancer at the Charité (FBREK)

As one of 23 cen­ters for fami­li­al breast and ova­ri­an can­cer in Ger­ma­ny, we offer spe­cial con­sul­ta­ti­on hours. We advi­se women and men who are con­cer­ned that they have an increased fami­li­al or gene­tic risk.

Contact

Hot­line 030–450 564 124 (Mo — Fr 9 — 12 Uhr)
fbrek-zentrum@charite.de

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