Why is cancer hereditary?!
Question: Why is cancer hereditary!?
It has come to my attention that they say cancer is hereditary, but I have a question, how is it hereditary if most cancers on parents normally happen AFTER giving birth!.
Here's a hypothetical situation:
Mary and Joe have a a daughter!. 14 years later, Joe gets cancer, but yet they say his daughter could get or will have cancer, how is this possible if the gene mutated after, therefore it didn't pass to his daughter!?Www@Answer-Health@Com
Here's a hypothetical situation:
Mary and Joe have a a daughter!. 14 years later, Joe gets cancer, but yet they say his daughter could get or will have cancer, how is this possible if the gene mutated after, therefore it didn't pass to his daughter!?Www@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
In fact cancer is rarely hereditary!. Fewer than 10 per cent of all cancer cases are due to hereditary factors!.
Where they are hereditary, it is due to a faulty gene that can be passed from parent to child (it doesn't skip a generation)!.
For example, breast cancer!. Only 5 - 10 per cent of breast cancer cases are hereditary!. Those that are are due to one of the rare faulty genes known to be responsible for hereditary breast cancer, BRCA1 and BRCA2!. If someone carries this gene, which they will have inherited from one of their parents, any children they have will have a 50 per cent chance of inheriting that gene!. If they do inherit it, they have a 50 - 80 per cent chance of developing breast cancer!. If they don't inherit it, they are not at increased risk and the faulty gene cannot pass to any children they have!.
So if Joe's cancer was random, like over 90 per cent of cancers, then it can't and won't be passed on to his daughter!. If it is due to a rare faulty gene, his daughter may develop it IF she has inherited that gene!. However, she will only be at increased risk of the type of cancer Joe had; her risk of other types of cancer is not increased!.
To pass on hereditary cancer, you don't have to have had cancer before your child was born, you just have to be a carrier of a faulty cancer gene; as I've said, this is very rare!. If, like most cancers, your cancer is random and non-hereditary then it makes no difference whether you had it before or after you had your child, they are still not at increased risk of it!.
You are wrong when you say cancer is normally caused by a person's habits though!. Apart from smoking being linked to lung and some other cancers, and excessive sun exposure being linked to skin cancers, nobody knows what causes cancer!. Regarding colorectal cancers, which you've mentioned, a diet high in meat is considered to be a risk factor; very different from saying eating beef causes colon cancer!.
That's the frightening thing about cancer - it can strike any of us at any time!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Where they are hereditary, it is due to a faulty gene that can be passed from parent to child (it doesn't skip a generation)!.
For example, breast cancer!. Only 5 - 10 per cent of breast cancer cases are hereditary!. Those that are are due to one of the rare faulty genes known to be responsible for hereditary breast cancer, BRCA1 and BRCA2!. If someone carries this gene, which they will have inherited from one of their parents, any children they have will have a 50 per cent chance of inheriting that gene!. If they do inherit it, they have a 50 - 80 per cent chance of developing breast cancer!. If they don't inherit it, they are not at increased risk and the faulty gene cannot pass to any children they have!.
So if Joe's cancer was random, like over 90 per cent of cancers, then it can't and won't be passed on to his daughter!. If it is due to a rare faulty gene, his daughter may develop it IF she has inherited that gene!. However, she will only be at increased risk of the type of cancer Joe had; her risk of other types of cancer is not increased!.
To pass on hereditary cancer, you don't have to have had cancer before your child was born, you just have to be a carrier of a faulty cancer gene; as I've said, this is very rare!. If, like most cancers, your cancer is random and non-hereditary then it makes no difference whether you had it before or after you had your child, they are still not at increased risk of it!.
You are wrong when you say cancer is normally caused by a person's habits though!. Apart from smoking being linked to lung and some other cancers, and excessive sun exposure being linked to skin cancers, nobody knows what causes cancer!. Regarding colorectal cancers, which you've mentioned, a diet high in meat is considered to be a risk factor; very different from saying eating beef causes colon cancer!.
That's the frightening thing about cancer - it can strike any of us at any time!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Cancer are hereditary because it is passed through genes!. Now some of these cancer genes, or oncogenes, may be inactive yet!. Certain elements-in the environment, in our diet-triggers the activation!. Since Joe has cancer, chances are the oncogenes were passed on to his daughter!. His daughter is now at an increased risk of developing either the same cancer Joe has or another type of cancer!.
But, not all cancers are hereditary!. Some are sporadic, which roughly translates to being a chance phenomenon!. Some are familial, meaning it just so happens that it occurs in certain families!.
One reason it is said that if a parent has cancer and the siblings or relatives may have cancer later is precaution!. Anyone who has cancer, their first degree relatives may be at risk!. So, surveillance is advised!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
But, not all cancers are hereditary!. Some are sporadic, which roughly translates to being a chance phenomenon!. Some are familial, meaning it just so happens that it occurs in certain families!.
One reason it is said that if a parent has cancer and the siblings or relatives may have cancer later is precaution!. Anyone who has cancer, their first degree relatives may be at risk!. So, surveillance is advised!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Think of the genes as being susceptibilty genes!. Taking your example, say eating beef only causes cancer in people with a specific gene!. If your parent has the gene, and develops cancer after years of beef eating, then you might have the same gene which puts you at risk!. In some cancers it is the combination of habits and genes!. That's why some people can smoke for 50 years and be fine and others can get cancer very early!. The best example of a hereditary cancer is Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC)!. This genetic condition results in production of lots of polyps in the bowel!. Initially they are not cancerous!. Over time they may become cancerous!. In this disease, there are so many polyps made that everyone with it will get a bowel cancer between 30 and 40!. Once diagnosed with the genetic condition, these patients have their colon removed before a cancer can develop!. This is an extreme example!. For most hereditary cancers, it results in an increased risk of developing cancer compared to someone whose relatives are cancer freeWww@Answer-Health@Com
I don't think cancer is hereditary!.some things are and they skip a generation!.Www@Answer-Health@Com