Risk Assessment Clinic 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, those who have been found to have a cancer gene mutation, or individuals who have had a biopsy showing benign breast disease. Women who have had breast or ovarian cancer are eligible for testing.
Clinical care to help reduce your risk
The Risk Assessment Clinic offers a range of cancer screening and prevention services tailored just for you including:
- State-of-the-art cancer screening and dedicated radiologists
- Detailed evaluation of individual risk
- Personalized screening plan 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 Clinic provides the most up-to-date clinical recommendations based on proven research and national guidelines, as well as 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, which means that it may 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.
The program was developed by Mary B. Daly, MD, PhD, who remains an internationally-recognized leader in cancer prevention and control. The Risk Assessment Clinic was originally established with funds from the National Cancer Institute and the Dyson Foundation, a foundation in honor of Margaret M. Dyson, who died in December 1990 after a brief battle with ovarian cancer.
The Risk Assessment Team includes medical oncologists, gynecologists, nurses, nurse practitioners, genetic counselors, radiologists, pathologists and health educators trained in cancer prevention.
