If you aren’t sure when to start getting colonoscopies and mammograms, just think family history.

According to a multi-institutional study published in the July 13 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, changes in family history significant enough to alter screening recommendations are common in adults ages 30 to 50.

About 22 percent of individuals have a family history that suggests familial or hereditary predisposition to cancer, the study reports. However, little is known about how risk changes over time and if those changes may qualify patients as candidates for earlier or more intense screening.

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute-funded Cancer Genetics Network analyzed both the detailed family history information participants reported upon enrollment in the network—which reflected their cancer risk up until that time—and the updated information they provided on an annual basis over an average of eight years. Analysis focused on colorectal, breast and prostate cancer, because the established screening guidelines for those common tumors can be affected by family history.

“Clinically relevant family history changes substantially during early and middle adulthood, particularly for colorectal and breast cancer, for which the percentage recommended for high-risk screening increases 1.5- to 3-fold between ages 30 and 50 years,” researchers wrote.

The study found that 2.1 percent of participants at age 30 would have met criteria for colonoscopy screening, with the percentage increasing to 7.1 percent by age 50 and peaking at 11 percent at age 70.

Findings were similar for breast cancer risk, “with steady increases in the percentage of participants who would have met criteria for MRI screening through early and middle age, from 7.2 percent of women at age 30 to 11.4 percent at age 50.”

Although there was an increase in the percentage of men meeting criteria for early prostate screening, it remained relatively low compared to the others, increasing to 2 percent by age 50.

Instant Insights /

Colon, breast cancer screenings needs change with age

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