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Many Indian families still describe repeated cancer cases in women as unfortunate coincidence- a mother with breast cancer, an aunt with ovarian cancer, a sister diagnosed young. But doctors now warn that in a significant number of such families, this may actually point to an inherited condition called Breast-Ovarian Cancer Syndrome, caused most commonly by BRCA gene mutations.

These faulty genes silently pass through generations and can sharply increase a woman’s lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer- often at a younger age than expected. Studies show nearly 10%–15% of ovarian cancers are hereditary, while Indian experts say women diagnosed young and carrying a strong family history have a far higher chance of harbouring these mutations than previously assumed.

What makes this dangerous is that ovarian cancer already has vague symptoms- bloating, pelvic discomfort, early fullness, unexplained abdominal swelling- and when a genetic risk sits quietly in the background, many women do not realise they are entering the high-risk category years before diagnosis.

The red flags are simple: two or more women in the same family with breast or ovarian cancer, cancer diagnosed before 45, recurrent cancers on the mother’s side, or even male breast cancer in relatives. In such cases, doctors now recommend genetic counselling and BRCA testing, not panic.

Because here is the shift modern medicine offers: if inherited risk is identified early, women can enter enhanced surveillance, fertility planning, preventive treatment, and timely specialist follow-up long before ovarian cancer gets the first chance to surprise them.

Sometimes family history is not history; it is advance notice.

Dr. Ritu Dave
DNB DNB ECMO
Consultant Cancer Physician
MOC Cancer Care & Research Centre, Shivaji Nagar.