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Humans carry 10-20 genes on average, which predispose them to serious diseases. However, that doesn't mean you need to get sick. However, if any of your relatives has had cancer - stay vigilant and visit a genetic clinic. Genetic tests will show if you are at risk of developing cancer caused by genes.

What are hereditary cancers?

How often arehereditary cancers ? Who is at risk?Cancer and genes- what do you need to know? Almost all cancers have a gene background. Before the disease can develop, a specific gene must be damaged. A genetic defect causes cells to multiply uncontrollably and the mechanism that stops this growth is not triggered.

This does not mean, however, that bad genes can only be found in genetic material inherited from ancestors. Sometimes they are damaged as a result of, for example, smoking or inhaling poisonous vapors (lung cancer) or eating red meat too often (colon cancer). The risk of developing the disease in people under 30 is 0.5%. Then - until the age of 65 - it increases to 12%, and in an even older age it reaches 23%.

So-called the lifetime risk of developing cancer in all people, regardless of the family burden, is estimated at 33%. On the other hand, hereditary conditions can be talked about in about 5 percent. all crayfish.

Cancer inheritance: three important genes

Cancer inheritance involves oncogenes, suppressor genes, and genes responsible for repairing DNA damage. Oncogenes cause cells to divide and multiply uncontrollably. To date, more than 50 such genes have been described. They arise from mutations of proto-oncogenes, i.e. normal genes that each cell has.

Suppressor genes control cell growth and division. They are not dangerous in themselves. Only their damage as a result of mutation causes impairment of their functions, and this promotes the formation of cancer. Repair genes are responsible for the reconstruction of damaged DNA, e.g. under the influence of radiation.

When they are disabled, genes mutate, which can lead to cancer development. We will find out if there is a family burden in our specific case at the clinicgenetic. Such facilities operate at oncology centers.

Hereditary neoplasms: visit to the genetic clinic

It will be more fruitful if we prepare well for it. During the first visit (the so-called initial consultation), the doctor analyzes the pedigree of the patient's family.

It marks people who have contracted cancer. It is therefore worth gathering information about who of the first and second degree relatives had the disease, what age they were at that time, who of those suffering from malignant neoplasms are alive and whether they can visit the clinic.

It is also a good idea to find out which hospital the relative was treated in and - if possible - provide a medical history or discharge from the hospital. You should take the results of your own checkups with you, e.g. mammography, lung X-ray or cervical smear.

It is worth remembering that the more information we collect about our family, the more accurate the determination of our risk of developing a genetically determined cancer will be. It is often the case that the very first consultation gives the answer whether the patient is at a higher risk or not.

If we provide too little information, the doctor will ask you to come for a follow-up consultation. During the next visit, the doctor discusses our pedigree and indicates which genetic tests are recommended. We do not have to agree to carry them out. But if we decide to perform them, the doctor makes an appointment for the next meeting, and blood is collected in the laboratory for testing. If, on the basis of the analysis of the test results, we are classified as a high-risk group, the specialist will present a preventive action plan and also indicate people from our family who should also undergo the tests. He will also set the date of the follow-up consultation.

It may not be possible to assess the risk of cancer if our relatives have died in an unnatural way, e.g. they died in an accident, or if we do not know our family's he alth history, e.g. in the case of adopted people.

Problem

Most common hereditary neoplasms

These are the cancers that most often occur in families:

  • Breast cancer - the risk of developing the disease is 5-10% when it was suffered by her grandmother, mother or sister.
  • Ovarian cancer - hereditary is 5-10 percent. cases.
  • Colorectal cancer - 10-20 percent cases occur in families.
  • Prostate cancer - approx. 9 percent has a genetic background, but the brothers have a higher risk of developing the disease than the sons of the sick person.
  • Lung cancer - when one gene is damaged, the risk is 30 percent, when two - it increases to 80 percent.
  • Kidney cancer -is inherited in 4% cases and usually affects both kidneys.

Cancer prevention: regular examinations

Consultation at a genetic clinic is not synonymous with carrying out genetic tests (only some patients are eligible for them). It is also not intended to diagnose a neoplastic disease and is not a substitute for a visit to an oncologist if disturbing symptoms occurred. A visit to a genetic clinic also does not exempt from regular checkups, e.g. cytology, mammography, PSA levels in men, and in both sexes - lung X-ray, colonoscopy, fecal occult blood tests.

Cancer: Important Early Diagnosis

Real cancer prevention is still in its infancy. Therefore, the basis for the effectiveness of cancer treatment in genetically burdened people is the same as in non-hereditary cases, i.e. quick detection of the disease. The only difference is that in the case of people with a family burden, the program of preventive examinations begins much earlier, which should be performed exceptionally systematically.

Often you can limit yourself to the specific observation of only certain organs - of course, when it is known that the genetic predisposition increases the risk of developing only selected neoplasms. Finally, there is sometimes a need for special observation patterns that are never used in the general population. This is what happens if we inherit a tendency to a very rare neoplasm, such as medullary thyroid cancer.

Then there are no commonly used early diagnosis schemes. Sometimes prophylactic operations are also performed to remove the endangered organ, e.g. the thyroid gland or the large intestine (in cases of so-called familial polyposis), because leaving it with it will usually lead to the development of a neoplastic disease.

Important

Environment and cancer inheritance

Although cigarette smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, there is also a genetic predisposition to it. Scientists from several research centers in the USA examined the genetic material of families with several cases of lung cancer and isolated the RGS17 gene. The same gene is overactive in 60 percent. patients with non-hereditary lung cancer. Hence the suggestion that some negative environmental factors may be responsible for the operation of the RGS17 gene.

Who should visit a genetic clinic?

If there have been cases of cancer in your family, you can visit a genetic counseling center. Do it, especially when neoplastic diseases have repeatedly attacked young people and appeared in subsequent onesgenerations of the closest relatives or in the case of paired organs, they appeared on both sides.

Genetic clinics operate at all oncology centers in the country. You do not need a doctor's referral to register there. Some questions to be answered before being admitted to a genetic clinic are:

  • Was there a family history of cancer diagnosed at a young age;
  • if more than one person in the mother's or (and) father's family suffered from cancer;
  • if more than one person suffered from malignant tumors in the mother's and father's family, did the cancer occur in different generations;
  • Has a family history of bilateral neoplasms, e.g. of the kidney, ovary;
  • Has the same person in the family suffered from more than one type of cancer;
  • Does any relative have any genetic damage that increases the risk of cancer

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Category:

Oncology