Does liver cancer have genetic factors?

Since liver cancer has been diagnosed with a certain family history, many people think that liver cancer is definitely hereditary. In fact, research has found that for about 90% of liver cancer patients, the vast majority are caused by external factors, which generally will not cause the patient to inherit the disease. Therefore, family members can rest assured and should do regular physical examinations.

Is liver cancer hereditary?

90% of the causes of cancer are exogenous, and heredity plays a very small role in the causes of tumors. Except for colon cancer that evolves from multiple polyposis intestinalis and skin cancer that evolves from xeroderma pigmentosum, other cancers are mostly believed to have no clear relationship with genetic factors. For families where several people suffer from liver cancer at the same time or earlier or later, perhaps common living conditions, such as common exposure to certain carcinogens and the same diet, can cause multiple people to develop liver cancer. This has little to do with the hereditary nature of liver cancer, and there is no basis for the hereditary nature of liver cancer.

Generally speaking, we can consider the following aspects for the family tendency: ① Horizontal transmission of hepatitis virus: Family members of hepatitis patients have extremely close contact. If one of them is infected with hepatitis B virus, it is easy to infect others without knowing it. This situation also shows that the familial tendency of liver cancer cannot be attributed to the inheritance of liver cancer. ② Vertical transmission of hepatitis B virus: Mothers who are infected with hepatitis B virus and become long-term virus carriers may transmit the virus to their newborns during or after delivery. Because the immune function of newborns is not yet fully developed, they cannot effectively eliminate the virus, resulting in persistent infection, leading to chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and finally liver cancer. This situation is often mistaken for a genetic cause of liver cancer. ③ The eating habits and lifestyles of family members are basically the same, and everyone has basically the same chance of being exposed to carcinogenic factors, which will lead to multiple people suffering from liver cancer at the same time or one after another.

In short, the theory that liver cancer is hereditary is not valid. The author suggests that friends who have liver cancer patients at home should take measures to prevent liver cancer, or change the home environment more often, pay attention to eating habits, etc., to prevent the recurrence of liver cancer.