Hereditary Factors

Most cancers are not passed down from parent to child. However there are some cancers that do have a genetic component. These can be called hereditary cancers.

• There are some cancers that are genetic (can be passed on from your parents).

• There are a number of different cancers that are hereditary.

• There is screening and testing you can do to identify if you may be suscpetible to a genetic cancer.

That is they are caused by a faulty gene that may have been inherited from your parents. Only 5-10% of cancers seem to be the result of having a faulty gene and these tend to be the cancers that affect older people.

What is it?

• A hereditary cancer is a cancer that can be passed on within a family. Unlike most cancers it is the result of an abnormal alteration in a single gene.

• A family may have a hereditary cancer if more than several people in the family have cancer and in more than one generation.

• There are many different types of hereditary cancer syndromes. The names of the various syndromes do not reflect all of the cancer types that a particular syndrome can make you susceptible to.

• By knowing the different cancers that are associated with a particular cancer syndrome, family members are able to start screening themselves earlier and more frequently.

Types of Hereditary Cancer Syndromes

• Breast-ovarian cancer syndrome 1 (BRAC1)

• Breast-ovarian cancer syndrome 2 (BRAC2)

• Familial adenomatous polyposis

• Familial melanoma

• Hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC)

• Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A (MEN2A)

• Von Hippel Lindau (VHL) syndrome