Dedicated to Discovery. Committed to Care.

Gastrointestinal Cancer Risk and Prevention

New Patient Information

In order to make your visit to the Friends of Dana-Farber Cancer Risk and Prevention Clinic as worthwhile as possible, we ask that you provide us with as much of your personal and family health history as you are able to at your first appointment. It turns out that many people do not know as much about their family members' cancer history as they may have thought. The more detailed information you can provide about your personal and family cancer history, the more accurate assessment of your hereditary risk factors we can make. We ask that you bring the following information to your first appointment.

  1. Please complete the following Pedigree Form, detailing your family's health history. Learn more
  2. Please try to bring all relevant medical records to your appointment. For help on obtaining medical records for yourself and close relatives, please refer to the following information:
    How to obtain medical records

You will likely have to ask your relatives to help you to collect medical records confirming their diagnoses. If you feel comfortable asking for their assistance, please send this information, along with the sample request letter, to any relatives who have had gastrointestinal cancer (or their next of kin); we will use this information to accurately assess your family history.

Family members can either send the records to you (if they do, please bring a copy to your appointment), or they can mail them directly to us at the address listed below. It helps if they indicate whose relative they are when sending records.

Please bring to your first appointment:

  • Colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, or upper endoscopy reports to the Hereditary GI Cancer Clinic;
  • Biopsy slides and written pathology reports. Slides from breast biopsies must be sent to the address listed below prior to your appointment so that the pathology department can review them before your arrival; and
  • Family cancer history information, including pathology reports.

You or your primary physician may send or fax these items to the address listed below. Please call the clinic office to ensure that all materials have arrived in advance of your appointment.

Cancer Risk and Prevention Clinic
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
44 Binney Street
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: (617) 632-2178
Fax: (617) 632-3715