Sometimes the words “it runs in the family” can be scary if what’s running is cancer. The disease can strike fear in the hearts of anyone, but if your family has a history of it, that fear can become real worry and concern for your future.
According to cancer.org, certain types of cancer seem to run in some families. This could be because family members have certain risk factors in common, such as smoking. But in some cases, cancer is caused by an abnormal gene that is being passed along from generation to generation.
Although this is oen called inherited cancer, what is inherited is the abnormal gene that can lead to cancer, not cancer itself. Cancer.org states that only five to 10 percent of all cancers are inherited.
Genes seem to have two major roles in cancer. Some, called oncogenes, can cause cancer. Others, known as tumour suppressor genes, stop cancer from developing or growing. When something goes wrong with the gene, such as a mutation, cell division can get out of control.
When someone has inherited an abnormal copy of a gene, their cells already start out with one mutation. This makes it all the easier (and quicker) for enough mutations to build up for a cell to become cancer. That is why cancers that are inherited tend to occur earlier in life than cancers of the same type that are not inherited.
Cancer in a close relative, like a parent or sibling (brother or sister), is more cause for concern than cancer in a more distant relative. Even if the cancer was from a gene mutation, the chance of it passing on to you gets lower with more distant relatives. The age of the person when the cancer was diagnosed is also important. For example, colon cancer is rare in people under 30. Having two or more cases in close relatives under 30 could be a sign of an inherited cancer syndrome.
On the other hand, prostate cancer is very common in elderly men, so if both your father and his brother were found to have prostate cancer when they were in their 80s, it is less likely to be due to an inherited gene change.
Before you decide that cancer runs in your family, first gather some information. For each case of cancer, look at:
• Who is affected? How are we related?
• What type of cancer is it?
• Is it rare?
• How old was this relave when they were diagnosed?
• Did this person get more than one type of cancer?
• Did they smoke or have other known risk factors?
Then, talk to your health care professional for options open to you with regards to genetic counselling and testing. Remember when many relatives have the same type of cancer it could be related to their lifestyle choices. For example, lung cancer is commonly caused by smoking, so many cases of lung cancer in a family of heavy smokers are more likely to be due to smoking than to an inherited gene change.
