Patient With Questions About Cancer Risk

Abstract

Primary care nurse practitioners routinely care for patients with personal or family histories of cancer. Approximately 5% to 10% of all cancers are related to hereditary cancer syndromes (HCSs),1 which cause an increased risk for developing more cancers and cancers at earlier ages than the general population. Nurse practitioners in primary care must become comfortable with identifying patients at risk for HCSs. Ordering genetic tests can be a challenge because the number of genetic tests available is growing at a rapid pace. This case highlights a woman who survived breast cancer at age 25 and basal cell carcinoma at age 33.