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Asked by anon-329046 on 15 Jun 2022.
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Karin Purshouse answered on 15 Jun 2022: last edited 15 Jun 2022 7:43 am
Yes, in a small proportion of cases, cancer can be inherited. Probably one of the best known is the BRCA mutation – Angelina Jolie is probably one of the most well known people to talk about having this mutation. Having this mutation basically means that cells are less able to fix damaged DNA, which means mistakes that can lead to cancer are carried through. Particularly this leads to a higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
We now test patients who we think might have an inherited type of cancer so their families can get tested too, and there are cancer screening programmes for patients with inherited conditions that are known to be associated with cancer. It also means patients might be able to reduce their risk by, for example, having a mastectomy in the case of the BRCA mutation.
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Holly Hall answered on 15 Jun 2022:
Also have a google for the two hit hypothesis.
The idea here is that every gene has two copies and for cancer to form you (often) need both copies of a gene (like a tumour suppressor) to be inactivatived to cause a change. A lot of childhood cancers are because a child has been born with one copy functional – or their first hit – and over time the second copy gets damaged.
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Sophie Richardson answered on 15 Jun 2022:
As Karin said, yes cancer can be hereditary. The BRCA gene mutation is the most common one, but there are others as well. Lynch syndrome is another of these inherited conditions. Lynch syndrome is caused by inheritance of a faulty copy of a gene involved in DNA repair. This means mutations are more likely to happen as the DNA less likely to be repaired correctly when a mistake is made during DNA replication. This leads to an increased risk of cancer. However, not everyone with an inherited cancer risk will get cancer in their lifetime, they’re just more likely to than someone without Lynch Syndrome, for example.
I’ve just found a statistic that says 5-10% of cancers have an inherited cause, so most cancers are not caused by inheritance of a faulty gene.
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Chelsea Gerada answered on 16 Jun 2022:
You can inherit genes which make you more likely to develop cancer depending on your lifestyle and also as already discussed mutations in genes such as BRCA which greatly heighten your risk irrespective of lifestyle choices. If you have a family history of cancer doctors might schedule you for enhanced screening or in the case with mutations in genes such as BRCA give you preventive options.
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