Prevention, Risk and Screening »Risk Assessment at Fox Chase »Breast and Ovarian Cancer

For Those at Increased Risk of
Breast or Ovarian Cancers

Risk Assessment offers you care from experts in cancer risk and prevention.

Risk assessment is for individuals with a family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer and women who have had breast or ovarian cancer or a biopsy showing benign breast disease.

To make an appointment or receive more information about the Risk Assessment Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center, call the program coordinator at 1-877-627-9684.

Clinical Care to Help Reduce Your Risk

The Risk Assessment Program offers a range of risk assessment and prevention services tailored just for you including:

• Screening expertise
• A detailed evaluation of your individual risk
• Counseling and education about genetic testing and prevention options
• The opportunity to participate in clinical trials and research studies looking at new approaches for early detection and risk reduction

Research Gives Us More Insight into Preventing Cancer

The Risk Assessment Program provides ongoing studies of the biological, genetic and environmental factors that influence cancer risk. The program responds to the rapid progress in the field of human genetics. Studies have shown that breast and ovarian cancer may be familial (run in families). Scientists are working to understand more about the hereditary factors, or genes, that influence the risk of these cancers for both men and women.

We continue to study mutations in BRCA1, BRCA2 and other cancer-related genes. As members of the Human Genome Studies Consortium, we are exploring new directions in genetic risk assessment.

One of the first of its kind, the program was the only one in the Philadelphia region when it opened in 1991.

Paula Ryan, MD, PhD, is the director of the Breast and Ovarian division of the Risk Assessment Program at Fox Chase. She is an expert in breast cancer, cancer risk assessment and prevention, hereditary cancer syndromes and medical ethics. The program was developed by Mary B. Daly, MD, PhD, who remains an internationally recognized leader in cancer prevention and control.

The Risk Assessment Program was originally established with funds from the National Cancer Institute and the Dyson Foundation. The staff includes medical oncologists, gynecologists, nurses, nurse practitioners, genetic counselors, radiologists, pathologists and health educators trained in cancer prevention. The program represents a memorial to Margaret M. Dyson, who died in December 1990 after a brief battle with ovarian cancer.