Back to December 2009: Updates from the 2009 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
Is there a link between DCIS and ovarian cancer?
- Question from Mary: How great is the link between breast cancer (DCIS) and ovarian cancer?
- Answer —Kathy Miller, M.D. : Most of the link between breast and ovary cancer comes from the breast cancer associated genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. Women who have inherited abnormal forms of those genes are at greater risk of developing both breast and ovary cancer. In women who have not inherited abnormal copies of those genes, there is very little if any increased risk in developing ovary cancer in women who have had breast cancer.