Can Cancer be hereditary? Many people ask this question especially another member of the family develops cancer when either a parent or a sibling had also suffered from the disease earlier.
The question is very natural and understandable but the answer unfortunately is not so simple or black and white. Though it has been widely understood by the cancer researchers and the scientific community that most cancer are not genetic yet there is a 5--10% chance of an inherited gene change leading to a cancer. So, just because a relative in your family has a cancer, there is no reason for you to panic thinking that you might also get that cancer.
However, cancer is such a complex disease to fully understand and to actually determine how it develops that even the most accomplished cancer scientists sometimes struggle to explain the basic questions that patients or their relatives put to them on the reasons behind their cancer.
So, overall, cancer is a result of the interaction between the genes of a person and his/ her environment. A genetic / DNA test determines the order in which the chemical letters of the genetic code are found in a gene. Mutations or the changes in the sequence /order can be used to predict the likelyhood of a person developing a partuculat cancer.
Cancer researchers, for example, have been able to find the genes called BRCA 1 and 2 that are linked to hereditary breast cancer. How exactly these mutations occur are also not an easy area for researchers.
There are two types of genetic mutations---germline ( that are passed on from generation to generation) and somatic ( that happen in the lifetime of a person and do not pass on).
The cancers that may develop due to germline mutation are breast , ovarian , bowel and womb(endometrial) . Genetic testing can be helpful in finding out some of the genes responsible for these cancers. There are some other cancers such as prostrate, pancreatic and testicular that may also be caused due to germline mutation but unfortunately genetic testting for these cancer is yet to be developed.
Overall, however, just because someone inherits a known cancer gene does not mean that that perosn will definitely get cancer. At best it only means that such a person has a significantly higher risk of developing cancer compared to the rest of the population. So you don't inherit cancer from your family, but you might inherit a predispostion or susceptibility to developing that particular cancer.
Good luck and God bless. "Every Life Matters"
Pradeep K Jaisingh
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