Cancer Risk & Prevention

MaineHealth Cancer Risk and Prevention serves people who are concerned about the risk of cancer in their family. Although most cancers are not "inherited,” some families have a higher risk of cancer and could benefit from early detection or steps to lower their risk. Our team helps patients and their families understand how their genes may affect their risk for cancer and how they can manage this risk.

Understand your options and choose the best path forward

The clinic provides counseling for all types of cancer. Visits last 1 ½ - 2 hours, including an overview of cancer genetics, a review of medical and family history, and counseling on ways you and your family can lower the risk of cancer.

Before Your Visit

We will ask you to complete a personal and family medical history form and to gather medical records before coming to the clinic. We will mail these forms to you after your visit is scheduled.

If you have had a cancer or a pre-cancerous finding, please send these medical records (pathology reports or colonoscopy records) to our clinic before your visit. We also ask you to contact relatives who have had cancer, and if possible, to get their medical records.

We will provide genetic counseling based on the information that you give us. If more records are needed, we can help you to get them after your visit.

During Your Visit

Initial visits take up to two hours. You will meet with a genetic counselor to talk about your health, family history and hereditary cancer risk. Some patients may also meet with a doctor at their first visit.

Topics usually discussed include:

Your family and medical history focusing on cancer
The risk of cancer for you and your family due to genes, where you live and work, and lifestyle (such as what you eat, drink or smoke, how much physical activity you get) on cancer risk
The hereditary cancer syndromes and patterns of inheritance that may exist in your family
Ways to screen for cancer and how you can reduce your risk
Risk to other family members
Genetic testing, if indicated

Billing & Insurance

For those at risk, most insurance carriers reimburse the cost of genetic counseling and testing. The federal Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) provides protection against health insurance genetic discrimination.