Cognitions and demands for information about hereditary tumors among women in breast cancer screening

Abstract

The circumstances surrounding BRCA mutation-positive breast cancer have changed dramatically over the past several years, with surgery and drug treatment based on genetic testing incorporated into routine medical care. Also, in relation to cancer screening, knowledge about hereditary tumors among screening recipients may lead to improved screening behavior and breast awareness. It is desirable to provide appropriate information to subjects, without misleading them. To examine what might represent appropriate information to guide the screening recipients, we considered it necessary to first determine how much information screening recipients might actually desire to receive on hereditary tumors. Therefore, we conducted a questionnaire survey of breast cancer screening recipients at the health screening center of our hospital between January 28 and March 8, 2019. Responses were obtained from 717 screening recipients. Of the respondents, 82.0% knew of the term “hereditary cancer, ” and 8.8% had received an explanation previously about the nature of hereditary cancers. Of the respondents, 74.5% indicated that they would like to know more about “hereditary cancer, ” and 86.6% indicated that they would like to know if they were at a risk of developing “hereditary cancer. ” Thus, our survey revealed that a definite proportion of cancer screening recipients desires information on hereditary tumors. Based on the results of our questionnaire survey, we examined how information on hereditary tumors should be provided at the time of cancer screening.