Health Advocate Amy Byer Shainman Discusses Risk Management of Hereditary Cancers

When it comes to managing your risk of cancer, especially when dealing with a familial cancer risk, "what is right for one person, may not be right for another," says Amy Byer Shainman.

Shainman had preventive surgeries after she found she was at high risk for breast and ovarian cancers due to a BRCA mutation. Several family members had been diagnosed with cancer, which led her to meet with a genetic counselor and receive genetic testing. She is now a health advocate for those at risk of hereditary-associated cancers and blogs at http://thebrcaresponder.blogspot.com.

"Get the education; what are your individual risks? What do they mean?" she advises. In addition to genetic counseling, weigh all your options, she suggsts, including possible chemoprevention, increased screening or preventive surgery.