Can cancer be hereditary? My father-in-law has cancer and I am very worried about my wife! Please give advice from experts.

Although cancer is related to family inheritance, the actual relationship is very small.

It is generally believed that congenital genetic genes and acquired lifestyle and occupational environment are involved in the incidence of cancer, but poor lifestyle is the most important carcinogenic factor, responsible for 3/4 of the incidence of cancer. related. Therefore, from the perspective of preventing cancer, a reasonable lifestyle and appropriate eating habits are the most important. Even people with a genetic predisposition to cancer must have environmental factors as conditions for their onset. The genetic predisposition to cancer is medically called genetically susceptible cancer (hereditary familial cancer), which usually includes esophageal cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, gastric cancer, endometrial cancer, etc. The cause is due to chromosome aberrations in human cell tissues, which make the chromosomes different in number and shape from normal cells. This chromosome aberration is sometimes passed on to future generations, making the next generation more likely to develop cancer.

However, people who are likely to develop cancer do not necessarily develop cancer, they just have a higher chance of developing cancer than ordinary people. In fact, in most cases, the tumor itself is not directly inherited, but only a tendency (or susceptibility) to develop tumors. On the basis of this genetic basis, the continuous influence of external environmental factors is also required, and after further changes, tumors can occur.

The American Cancer Institute and 5 cooperative research centers conducted a large-scale census of 2,308 children of 2,283 cancer survivors. The results found that only 7 children had hereditary cancer, while the remaining children The incidence of cancer has not increased. This research case more reliably points out that heredity can indeed be said to be a factor in the incidence of cancer, but compared with environmental factors, it can only be in a secondary position.

Having said this, can the poster feel at ease?