Cancer Control Program

Cancer Assessment and Risk Evaluation (CARE) Program

The Lombardi CARE Information Packet is available in PDF format (180KB). Click here for more information on PDF format.

The CARE (Cancer Assessment and Risk Evaluation) Program is a genetic counseling and testing program offered by the Cancer Control Program at Lombardi. A component of the CARE program is known as PATH (Personal Aid to Health). This free research research study is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.

Through the CARE Program, each participant meets with a genetic counselor or nurse educator to discuss:

A detailed family history and risk factor assessment
The genetics and inheritance of breast and ovarian cancer
Personalized guidelines for cancer prevention and screening
The options available for genetic testing for cancer susceptibility, including the pros and cons of testing (genetic testing is offered to all eligible individuals)

Because our program is a clinical research program, one of the goals of this research is to determine the best methods of education and counseling about genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer risk. Therefore, women who are found to have an altered BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene may be assigned randomly to one of two counseling programs: (1)standard genetic counseling or (2) standard genetic counseling plus use of a computer decision-aid intervention. All men who participate in our program will receive standard genetic counseling.

In addition, all participants are asked to complete telephone and in-person interviews and questionnaires both before and after participation. These assessments are important to evaluate the benefits of the program, and will help us learn more about how people make decisions about genetic testing and about the impact of these decisions on their lives and their family members. We are also studying questions of clinical importance for those individuals who learn that they have an alteration in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, such as factors that modify risk, and the effectiveness of screening and prevention options.

Eligibility
If you answer YES to any of the questions below, you or your relative may be eligible to participate in our genetic counseling/testing program. Please call our referral line at (202) 687-1750 for more information.

If you or your family member have had breast cancer:

Were you or your relative diagnosed before age 50, and are you of Jewish descent?
Were you or your relative diagnosed before age 50 and do you also have a fist-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter), who had breast cancer before age 40, or ovarian cancer at any age?
Were you or your relative diagnosed before age 50, and do you also have 2 other relatives on the same side of the family with breast and/or ovarian cancer?

If you or your family member have had ovarian cancer:

Were you or your relative diagnosed with ovarian cancer at any age, and are you of Jewish descent?
Do you or your relative also have a first-degree relative who had breast cancer before age 50 or ovarian cancer at any age?

If you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer and are of Jewish descent:

Do you have three relatives on the same side of the family who were diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancer (not necessarily in the same individual)?

Detailed educational material can be found in the CARE Information Packet, available in PDF format (180KB).
Click here for more information on PDF format.