Family History Collection Tips and Tools

Summary: Provides tips, resources, and tools for family history collection in clinical practice.

By JAX Clinical Education | July 2026

Family History Collection Tips

Use the attached forms to capture family cancer history. First determine who is in the family. Include at least parents, children, siblings, grandparents, aunts/uncles and first cousins. Expand to more distant relatives when it will help clarify patterns, or when there is an exceptional cancer history, such as very early age of onset, or rare cancers. In addition to asking about cancer history, consider including other notable family history, such as birth defects, distinctive physical features, and intellectual disability or autism.

As you ask about various relatives, keep in mind:

Family structure:

• Verify relationships, including half and step siblings, adopted individuals, and assisted reproduction with donor gamete.
• Ask about both paternal and maternal sides of the family
• Include unaffected and deceased relatives which can modify risk calculations by a genetic professional
• Don’t forget to ask about ancestry

Disease expression:

• When possible, clarify the clinical symptoms and diagnosis
• Assess the family's level of certainty about the diagnosis
• Indicate approximate ages of diagnosis and death

Concerns specific to cancer family history:

• When possible, clarify the location and type of cancer
• Ask about the presence of bilateral disease or multiple primary tumors
• Indicate whether significant environmental risk factors are present
• Assess the family’s level of certainty about the diagnosis (i.e. are they sure it was ovarian cancer and not cervical or another gynecologic cancer?)

Family History Collection Resources

There are different approaches to collecting family history information. Recording information in a pedigree can help you visualize patterns of disease more easily, which is one reason genetic experts prefer them. There are also online tools available that allow patients to input their family history information at home and print it out for you to review. Find a tool that helps you collect sufficient information and allows for updating, as family history information changes over time.

Collection Tools for Healthcare Providers

Pedigree Tool. (JAX) A template to record a pedigree with standard pedigree nomenclature.

Family History Questionnaire. (JAX) A collection form for medical family history data that can be printed and used in clinical practice.

Pedigree Tool. (Progeny Genetics) A free, online pedigree drawing program.

Collecting a Family History. (American Medical Association) Provides downloadable prenatal and pediatric family history forms from the AMA, as well as other family history resources.

Collection Tools for Patients and Families

My Family Health Portrait. (NHGRI/US Surgeon General) An online tool that patients can use to build and share a medical family history.

Does It Run in the Family? A Family History Tool. (Genetic Alliance) Customizable booklets about family history for a patient or community.

How to Draw Your Family Tree. (National Society of Genetic Counselors) Provides guidance on representing your family history in a pedigree.

More Tips and Guidance for Family History Collection and Pedigree Drawing

Core Principles in Family History. (NCHPEG) Identifies core principles in the collection and interpretation of a medical family history for all healthcare providers, developed by the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics.

Learn More

Hereditary Cancer Clinical Education (CME|CNE). Case-based modules that let you practice identifying and managing patients at risk for hereditary cancer.

Disclaimer

All information in this resource is provided for educational purposes only.

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