Can tumors be inherited? How to prevent them? You may want to read the following article

People often wonder: Are tumors hereditary? First of all, we need to understand what hereditary tumors are. Hereditary cancer refers to some tumors that have family clustering and are passed on to future generations through inheritance. If you have a family member with cancer, how can you prevent it? Most people may understand heredity as follows: if it is inherited, it will definitely occur, just like some other classic hereditary diseases such as hemophilia. However, the onset of tumors is the result of the combined effects of internal and external factors. In medicine, the word "risk" is often used to describe whether a disease will occur.

Classification

According to the cell characteristics of the new organism and the degree of harm to the organism, tumors are divided into benign tumors and malignant tumors. Malignant tumors can be divided into carcinomas and sarcomas. Carcinoma is a malignant tumor of epithelial tissue. Sarcoma refers to a malignant tumor produced by mesenchymal tissue, including fibrous connective tissue, fat, muscle, blood vessels, bone and cartilage, etc. For example, a malignant tumor formed by the mucosal epithelium of the large intestine is called mucosal epithelial cancer of the large intestine, referred to as colorectal cancer. The skin formed by epithelial cells is called epithelial skin cancer, referred to as skin cancer, etc. Therefore, if a doctor says that someone has cancer, it means that the patient has a malignant tumor. If someone has gastric cancer, it refers to the patient's gastric mucosal epithelial cancer; if the patient has gastric sarcoma, it means that the malignant tumor is not formed by mucosal epithelial cells, but caused by the malignant transformation of smooth muscle cells, or it is a malignant lymphoma of the stomach. But in general, he may also have cancer.

Leukemia is a malignant tumor of the blood system, so it is commonly known as blood cancer. It is formed by the diffuse malignant growth of immature white blood cells in the bone marrow, replacing normal bone marrow tissue and entering the blood. Leukemia is called leukemia because there are a large number of tumorous white blood cells in the patient's blood, which makes the blood appear chylous. The name of this disease does not reflect the biological classification of its cancer cells. In the vast majority of cases, the number of white blood cells in the blood increases significantly, but sometimes it can be normal or even decrease. According to the type of leukemia cells, it can be divided into granulocytic, lymphocytic and monocytic types. In addition, as mentioned above, doctors divide tumors into malignant and benign according to their pathological manifestations, growth patterns and harm to patients.

Why can gene mutations be inherited?

Genes are the hereditary material carried by human cells, and they appear in pairs, half from the mother and the other half from the father. If a gene related to a tumor mutates, the probability of a child developing certain tumors is significantly higher than that of a person who does not carry the mutated gene.

If the mutated gene comes from only one of the parents, the children are carriers of the mutated gene, and usually, there is a 50% chance of passing the mutation to the next generation. This is why tumors often have familial clustering when there is such a gene mutation.

Finding people at risk

About 5%-10% of tumors are hereditary tumor syndromes, and it is important to identify these patients. It is not realistic to have all tumor patients undergo expensive genetic tests to see if they have a genetic predisposition, so it is necessary to conduct tests on some people who are at higher risk.

Different tumors, such as breast cancer and colorectal cancer, have different standards, but the following situations need to be vigilant:

◈History of multiple tumors in the family;

◈A family history of early-onset cancer (e.g., breast cancer before the age of 40 or colorectal cancer before the age of 50);

◈Individual history of multiple tumors (for example, a person suffers from tumors in multiple locations successively or simultaneously);

◈History of rare tumors (such as breast cancer in men);

◈Have a history of precancerous lesions, etc.;

◈Patients whose relatives have both breast cancer and ovarian cancer;

◈Ethnicity related (e.g., German Jews have a significantly increased risk of breast cancer).

Why is it important to detect carriers of gene mutations?

First, screening for mutated genes in high-risk groups can identify high-risk groups. More importantly, doctors can provide more targeted screening measures and preventive treatments for these high-risk groups. Of course, this screening for mutated genes may increase people's anxiety, affect family relationships, and increase carriers' concerns about work, insurance, etc. after the results are leaked. It should be emphasized that not all carriers of mutated genes will develop tumors, but the probability will be significantly increased.

What should people who meet the above conditions do?

If you have such concerns, you need to consult a geneticist who will ask detailed questions about your personal medical history and family history of cancer.

Generally, doctors will focus on your first- and second-degree relatives. First-degree relatives include your parents, children, and siblings. Second-degree relatives include parents on both sides of your parents' side (grandparents), grandchildren, siblings on both sides of your parents' side (uncles, aunts, aunts, uncles), siblings' children (nephews, nieces, nephews), and half-siblings.

The doctor will assess your risk of carrying a mutated gene based on the cancer status of these two types of relatives. If you are a cancer patient, the doctor will assess your risk of carrying a mutated gene based on your age, type of tumor, and family history. Depending on the level of risk, the doctor will discuss with you the significance of mutated gene screening for you, and further discuss the pros and cons of gene screening and the future impact on you and your family.