1. Can breast cancer be hereditary? This is a question that many people often ask. Some patients still have this question: If someone has breast cancer, are her close relatives at risk of developing cancer? Recent research has been able to answer these questions: breast cancer, like most malignant diseases, occurs due to a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Genetic factors account for only a small part of the mechanism of breast cancer development. Some studies show that hereditary breast cancer accounts for 5-10% of all breast cancers, which is only a small percentage of all breast cancer patients. 2. How is breast cancer inherited? It has now been confirmed that the occurrence of hereditary breast cancer is associated with these defects in genetic material, that is, people with defects in genetic material are prone to breast cancer, so breast cancer is passed on to the next generation through the transmission of genetic defects. Such genetic defects have been identified in white women, most commonly mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, and women carrying such defects have a much higher risk of developing breast cancer than the general population. Therefore, detection of these genetic defects in breast cancer high risk group is beneficial for early diagnosis and early prevention of breast cancer. 3.What kind of breast cancer patients are likely to be hereditary? Hereditary breast cancer has certain characteristics, often manifesting as early-onset, family aggregation, etc. Early-onset refers to the early onset of breast cancer, which may occur at an early age of less than 35 years old; familial aggregation refers to the fact that two or more members of the family are breast cancer patients, sometimes combined with other malignant diseases, such as ovarian cancer and prostate cancer. 4.What should I do if I have a high suspicion of hereditary breast cancer patients or clearly hereditary breast cancer? If this is the case, the biggest problem is that the healthy members of the family who are related to the patient may also carry the disease-causing mutation, and women carrying these mutations have a much higher lifetime risk of breast cancer. The most effective way to prevent breast cancer is to have a breast screening. Generally speaking, the age of mammogram screening for healthy women is around 40 years old. However, because of the early onset of hereditary breast cancer, these healthy women with high suspicion or clear genetic mutations need to be screened at least 10 years earlier, and it is generally recommended to start screening at around 25-30 years of age using diagnostic breast imaging methods. In addition, because of the dense breast tissue in young women, the application of mammography is often ineffective, and recent studies have shown that MRI has a role in breast screening in this group of women that is superior to that of mammography. Therefore, it is necessary to apply MRI for early screening of high-risk women. 5. Hereditary breast cancer is not terrible, and it accounts for a small percentage of all breast cancers. The important thing is to discover its hereditary nature, which requires proper awareness of cancer prevention and timely medical consultation is very important. Only early detection, early prevention and early treatment can improve the cure rate of hereditary breast cancer.