Three sisters who have all been diagnosed with breast cancer one after the other since 1997, fear they may have passed on a defective family gene to their three daughters.

Susan Ince, 46, of Emerald Court, Sittingbourne, is terminally ill after the disease spread to her bones. She has a 29-year-old daughter, Helen.

Denise Lewry, 45, of Kenilworth Court, Sittingbourne, is in remission but underwent a double mastectomy after fighting the disease three times between 1997 and 2004, and has a 14-year-old daughter, Hannah.

And Lynda Ward, 42, from Folkestone, who is also in remission, has a 20-year-old daughter called Emma.

Doctors have asked the sisters if they want to undergo a test to see if they carry the cancer gene, and if they have passed it on to their children.

For the full story, see this week's Sittingbourne Kent Messenger print edition.