Chapter 27: Living with and beyond cancer
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Inherited cancers
Women proven to carry gene mutations for inherited cancer syndromes may elect to have risk‐reducing surgeries that can cause abrupt premature menopause. Risk‐reducing salpingo‐oophorectomy is often encouraged in women with the hereditary breast–ovarian cancer syndrome (BRCA1 or BCRA2 gene mutation) at around the age of 40 to reduce the risk of future development of breast or ovarian cancer. For women with hereditary non‐polyposis colorectal cancer associated with mutations in the DNA mismatch repair genes, risk‐reducing hysterectomy and salpingo‐oophorectomy may be recommended (Carter et al. [41]).
