Women ignore breast cancer on dad's side

A U.S. study finds that when women tell doctors about their family breast cancer history they are less likely to report cancer in their father's families.

John Quillin and his colleagues at Virginia Commonwealth University tracked 900 women who were patients at a city health clinic, WebMD reported. They found that 16 percent of the women mentioned relatives on their mother's side with breast cancer but only 10 percent reported cancer among paternal relatives.

"Patients may not know that paternal family history is also relevant for their health," Quillin and his colleagues said in a report in the Journal of Preventive Medicine. "Primary care physicians might pay particular attention to getting information about the father's side of the family."

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

Citation: Women ignore breast cancer on dad's side (2006, July 27) retrieved 28 March 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2006-07-women-breast-cancer-dad-side.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Fatigue? Unexplained weight gain and dry skin? Could it be Hashimoto's disease?

 shares

Feedback to editors