If cancer or heart disease runs in my family, which screening package is the honest match?

Your father had a heart attack at 52. Or your sister was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the family tree suddenly feels heavier than it did. It's natural to want to check yourself, and to wonder which test would actually help.

The best match is the appointment that looks at the condition in your family, using the test that condition needs. For heart disease, that's usually a doctor-led Health MOT with lipids, blood pressure, an ECG and a review. For a named cancer, it's often an organ package aimed at the breast, prostate, bowel or lung. Where inherited cancer risk is the real question, genetic testing with proper counselling is the place to start.

If you'd like help matching your family history to a package, our package quiz already asks family-history questions. You can also call The Health Screening Clinic at 117a Harley Street on 020 7183 7056.

Start by writing down who had what, and when

A sense that cancer or heart disease runs in the family is a starting point. What a doctor can use is who was affected, which condition, and roughly how old they were when it was found.

A father with a heart attack at 52 is a different conversation from a grandmother with bowel cancer at 85. Two first-degree relatives with breast cancer before 50 is different again from a cousin whose diagnosis you can't date.

Bring names, ages and any clinic letters you hold. If nobody in the family has been tested, say so, and if a relative already has a genetics or oncology report, bring that too. The quiz works best once that tree is written down, so you're choosing from facts rather than a vague sense of risk. Leave lifetime risk figures to your doctor rather than a search result.

Heart disease in the family

If the pattern in your family is coronary disease, stroke, high cholesterol, diabetes or high blood pressure, a doctor-led Health MOT is usually the right fit.

The Essential Health MOT at £495 is a 45-minute baseline: an examination, an ECG, body composition, and core bloods including lipids, glucose, HbA1c, kidney and liver function, thyroid and iron. That's the chemistry a family history of heart disease usually calls for.

The Advanced Health MOT at £999 adds lung function, a chest X-ray, DEXA when clinically indicated, a hormone profile, a deeper thyroid panel and four GP appointments over 12 months, shareable with immediate family. It's a sensible step up if you'd also like structural chest work and a year of follow-up.

Ultimate, at £2,950 or £3,350 with gynaecology, adds 3T MRI of the brain, intracranial and carotid MRA, whole spine and torso. It does look at the carotid arteries and the brain, and it's the right choice when that wider MRI protocol is what you want.

A flagged lipid or HbA1c result is extra information for a doctor who has examined you and knows the ages in your family tree. It isn't a diagnosis of heart disease. UK screening principles apply here as anywhere: screening finds people who may have a higher chance of a condition, and an out-of-range result often leads to further tests.

Cancer in the family

If the pattern is a particular cancer, ask yourself whether you want a whole-person check or a closer look at that organ. Our cancer screening packages are built for the second. Prostate packages start from £299, lung from £395, bowel from £499 and breast from £449. Breast packages include mammography from 40, with ultrasound or MRI when those suit the breast better.

Each organ package uses the test that site needs, such as a mammogram, prostate MRI or a low-dose CT scan of the chest. A MOT can include some related clues. Elite adds CEA, and PSA or CA-125, with sex-specific ultrasound, and Ultimate adds a wider MRI protocol and, for women, HE4 and a ROMA score.

Those are extra information, not a cancer ruling. MRI, tumour markers and mammograms each do a different job, so for a breast history the mammogram does that job, and for a bowel history it's bowel investigation. For more on what markers can and can't show, read can a blood test detect cancer.

If breast cancer is the thread and you want imaging of the breast itself, a breast screening package is the natural choice. Keep going to your NHS Breast Screening Programme appointments if you're eligible, and the same goes for bowel and cervical screening. A family history can point you towards targeted private imaging, and the national programmes carry on alongside it.

When Elite or Ultimate makes sense

The Elite Health MOT costs £1,850 for men and £2,095 for women. It fits well when a family history of cancer makes consultant ultrasound and tumour markers the missing piece, and you still want the doctor-led check around them. Women's Elite adds gynaecology, trans-vaginal and pelvic ultrasound, a smear, a mammogram from 40 and CA-125. Men's Elite adds abdominal, pelvic and testicular ultrasound, and PSA from 40. Each scan looks at particular structures, which is why it's matched to the family history.

Ultimate fits when you specifically want the 3T MRI protocol, with the examination and bloods in the same conversation. Wide MRI also finds cysts, disc changes and small lesions that then need explaining. A finding means something once a clinician who has examined you decides what, if anything, needs to happen, and a clear scan is good news rather than a guarantee.

As a rough guide: for breast, talk to us about a breast package or Elite. For prostate, a prostate package or Elite may already be the right test. For heart chemistry, Essential or Advanced is often enough.

Genetic testing and BRCA

Genetic testing is its own conversation, separate from the Health MOTs, and it starts with counselling. NICE guidance on familial breast cancer (CG164) treats genetic testing as something discussed after information and counselling, and says predictive testing should only be offered with adequate genetic counselling.

That counselling matters because the results carry uncertainty. A gene change doesn't mean you have cancer now. A report showing no change doesn't mean you can't develop breast or ovarian cancer. And some results come back as variants of uncertain significance.

At this clinic, the Elite breast screen at £1,599 includes BRCA genetic testing alongside breast MRI and an in-person review. Our sister practice at the same address, Medical Express Clinic, also offers BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing, starting with a mini consultation and pre-test counselling, as set out on its BRCA testing page.

Before you book

• Write the family tree first: who, which condition, and roughly what age.
• Then decide whether your question is heart chemistry, a named organ, a doctor-led MOT with sex-specific scans, or genetic testing with counselling.
• Bring letters if a relative already has a genetics or oncology report.
• Essential needs no fasting. Advanced, Elite and Ultimate need a minimum four-hour fast.
• Keep taking your regular medicines unless you've been told otherwise.
• MOT and organ menus can change, so the current list is always on those pages.

If you have a new symptom, such as a breast lump, pelvic bleeding, chest pain, coughing blood or a change in bowel habit, see a GP or get urgent care first, and call 999 or go to A&E in an emergency.

If dementia runs in your family, read cognitive screening versus waiting for a memory clinic. When you're ready, take the package quiz and book, or call 020 7183 7056.

Frequently asked questions

If cancer or heart disease runs in my family, should I book Ultimate?

Book Ultimate if its 3T MRI of the brain, MRA, whole spine and torso is the investigation you want. A family history of heart disease often matches Essential or Advanced, and a named cancer often matches an organ package or Elite.

Is a Health MOT the same as an organ cancer package?

They do different jobs. A MOT is a doctor-led whole-person assessment, while an organ package looks at one site with the test that site needs, such as a mammogram, prostate MRI or low-dose CT of the chest.

Does a family history of breast cancer mean I need BRCA testing inside a MOT?

Genetic testing is a separate conversation that starts with counselling, as NICE CG164 sets out. Here, BRCA testing is included in the Elite breast screen at £1,599, alongside breast MRI.

What should I bring?

Names, conditions and ages, plus any letters you hold. The more specific the history, the more useful it is to your doctor.

Will a clear MOT or a normal marker mean I will not get the family disease?

No. Screening identifies people who may have a higher chance of a condition. A flag isn't a diagnosis, and a normal result is reassuring rather than a guarantee.

I have a new symptom as well as a family history. Which do I book?

See a GP or urgent care about the new symptom first. A screening package can follow once that has been assessed.

How do I choose if I am still unsure?

Take the package quiz, which asks family-history questions, then book. It helps you choose a tier, and a doctor reads your results.

Sources

• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Familial breast cancer: classification, care and managing breast cancer and related risks in people with a family history of breast cancer. Clinical guideline CG164
• UK National Screening Committee. Principles of screening
• NICE. Suspected cancer: recognition and referral (NG12)
• NHS. NHS Health Check
• NHS. Genetic tests to check your cancer risk
• NHS. Breast screening (mammogram)
• NHS. Breast lumps
• General Medical Council. Medical register, Penelope Sheehan, 6056535
• Health Screening Clinic. Elite Health MOT
• Health Screening Clinic. Ultimate Health MOT

Written By

Stephen Lingam

Managing Director

Managing Director of Medical Express Clinic and the Health Screening Clinic since 1984. Over 40 years of operational experience in private healthcare on Harley Street, overseeing patient care, clinical standards, and service delivery.

Medically Reviewed

Dr Penny Sheehan

MBBS, MRCGP

General Practitioner

GMC: 6056535

Specialising in women's health, hormonal balance, and menopause management within screening contexts.

Last reviewed: 25/09/2026