Can cancer be inherited?

Four kinds of cancer can be inherited.

Can cancer be inherited and prevented? A large number of medical practices have found that genetic factors do play a role in the occurrence of cancer. Which cancers are easier to inherit? Professor Wang, former vice president of Cancer Hospital of China Academy of Medical Sciences, suggested that four kinds of cancers, such as retinoblastoma in children, can be inherited.

Retinoblastoma in children. Professor Wang said that the most closely related cancer is retinoblastoma in children. Its symptom is that children suddenly go blind when they are 1 ~ 2 years old. Retinoblastoma is determined by abnormal genes, and 80% ~ 90% people with abnormal genes will develop this kind of cancer. This is an obvious example of a congenital tumor.

Colon cancer. This is a multiple and familial polyposis, which grows in the intestine, especially in the large intestine and is easy to develop into colon cancer. Professor Wang said that if parents have this type of colon cancer, their children have a 50% chance of getting the same type of cancer. But environmental factors are also very important to promote this type of colon cancer.

Breast cancer. Women whose mothers or sisters have had breast cancer in the family are three times more likely to have breast cancer than ordinary women. However, all the causes of breast cancer cannot be attributed to heredity, because the causes of breast cancer are many factors, including excessive fat in diet, obesity, not breastfeeding or celibacy. If some patients have breast cancer for two or three generations in their families, it is necessary to consider whether they are hereditary. In addition, Professor Wang said that the heritability of bilateral breast cancer is obvious.

Gastric cancer and esophageal cancer. The inheritance is not obvious, and some people have had family gatherings. Some people think that this is caused by genetic factors.

According to reports, the family genetic phenomenon of cancer is caused by chromosome aberration. Every cell in a normal human body has 46 chromosomes. Various carcinogens can cause chromosome aberration, which makes chromosomes different from normal cells in quantity and morphology. This chromosome aberration is sometimes passed on to future generations, which makes the next generation have the possibility of cancer. In addition, people who are likely to have cancer may not necessarily have cancer, but their chances of getting cancer are greater than those of ordinary people. The occurrence of cancer depends on internal and external factors, and cancer constitution is only partly internal. If external carcinogenic factors, such as radiation and smoking, are added, cancer will occur.