September 23, 2004 – While patients know their medical history fairly well when it comes to breast or colon cancer, they are often unanswered when it comes to ovarian, endometrial and prostate cancer.
According to a synthesis of 14 studies, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association1, this lack of information deprives physicians processing data that would allow them to help patients better protect themselves against these cancers.
Part of this could be attributed to the discomfort that people of a certain generation have when discussing diseases related to the reproductive system, according to American researchers.
The clinical approach of physicians is often dictated by what patients give them as information. Should a screening test be prescribed? Should the patient be referred to a genetic counselor? These are questions that depend on the medical history.
This is all the more important for cases of breast, ovarian, endometrial, colon and prostate cancers, which often occur in several generations of the same family. A better knowledge of family history in this sense could help to better prevent them, according to the researchers.
Marie france Coutu – PasseportSanté.net
1. Murff HJ, Spigel DR, Syngal S, Does this patient have a family history of cancer? An evidence-based analysis of the accuracy of family cancer history, JAMA, September 2004, Vol. 292, No 12, 1480-9.
