Are cancer cells hyredetaty??

Question

theres been alot of cancer to the woman in my family! im having some problems have got to go for an operation next week to diagoise...... i want to ruel out cancer!!!

Answer 1

Wow did I struggle to understand your question due to the spelling.! Some cancers are inherited. You don't say which problems seem to run in your family, nor what the doctors are trying to RULE out at your operation?

Answer 2

Certain cancers, such as, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, skin cancer (Melanoma) are also caused by genetic factors.

Certain genetic syndromes also increase the risk of developing colon cancer.

Some women have what's called HER2-positive breast cancer. HER2 refers to a gene that helps cells grow, divide, and repair themselves. When cells have too many copies of this gene, cells -- including cancer cells -- grow faster. Experts think that women with HER2-positive breast cancer have a more aggressive disease and a higher risk of recurrence than those who do not have this type.

Family history of breast cancer -- You may also have a higher risk for breast cancer if you have a close relative has had breast, uterine, ovarian, or colon cancer. About 20-30% of women with breast cancer have a family history of the disease.

Risk factors include the following:- Family history of melanoma

Answer 3

There are over 200 different types of cancer . . and only a small handful are considered hereditary. Basically if immediate members of your family . . ie mother, sisters have the exact same type of cancer . .than you may have a gene for that one type of cancer. If you have family members who all have a different type of cancer . .one has colon, the other has lung, . and one has breast cancer . .that is not hereditary. That is unfortunately, a co-incidence.

So, a hereditary cancer generally affects immediate family members . . does your mother, her mother (your grandmother) and her siblings all suffer the exact same cancer? The alert should be . . the cancer has not be the same type for everyone . .than they would suspect hereditary cancer.

Answer 4

When investigating symptoms that may be cancer like, doctors always ask about anyone in your family that suffered cancer.

So I would say yes, there is an inherited risk.

However our life styles and diet are so much different than our parent's generation, it may not follow that we will experience their health.

Answer 5

Some are.

Answer 6

Some forms of cancer are hereditary. If you already have family members with cancer you need to be aware that you may also develop some form of cancer.

Make sure that your doctor is aware of your family history of cancer as well as what type of cancer.

Cancer runs in my family as well, I have had the second generation cancer in my family but my brother and sister have not. This all in the genetic make-up.

Usually once you have gotten it, it will return, not necessarily in the same place. Sooner or later it will come back so make sure that you continue to follow-up with your doctors and be adamant on your own personal care. Ask question, never be afraid to speak up, Good Luck to you and your family.

Answer 7

lets hope  bad spelling isn't huh

good luck re your operation though

Answer 8

Lucy Loo, unfortunately alot of Cancers are hereditary.  However, they can skip generations and though women in your family have suffered in the past that doesn't mean you will.  You are only half your mum and half your Dad.  Good chance that you have no hereditary cancer at all.  

Secondly, Cancers are not a big a problem as before.  Many many people now have cancer treated and go on to live long happy lives.  Try not to worry, youe gonna be ok.  Your operation will probably be for something silly that after it you'll be laughing about.

Best of luck

Answer 9

Cancer that 'runs in families' is rare; no more than 10% of all cancer cases are due to hereditary factors.

With one in three people developing cancer at some point in their lives, it isn't unusual for several people in the same extended family to get cancer without any of them having any hereditary factor at all - this is the case in my own family.

You don't say what type of cancer your family members had. Did they all have the same type of cancer, eg all have breast cancer, or ovarian cancer? If so, it may be hereditary, though not necessarily. If they all had different cancers, it isn't.

Scientists have identified some high risk faulty genes but these are rare. One example of a high risk gene is BRCA1. Women who carry a faulty BRCA1 gene have an 50 - 80% chance of getting breast cancer at some point in their lives. (Only 5 – 10 % of breast cancer cases are caused by hereditary factors). You have a 50% chance of inheriting one of the BCRA genes if one of your parents carries it (not one of your grandparents or other relatives).

Some types of cancer are not hereditary at all, some are almost never hereditary. If there was a hereditary cancer in your family, it wouldn't mean you were at risk of other types of cancer. And  if your family members have had different cancers  - eg one had stomach cancer, one had breast cancer, one had lung - this does not increase your risk of getting cancer.

It's also worth knowing that cancer that is diagnosed after the age of 50 is less likely to be hereditary - you don't say at what age your relatives were diagnosed.

Two of my grandparents had cancer. Both my parents had it, and my mother died of it. So did my aunt my uncle and my cousin. NONE of the cancers they had were hereditary, and no members of my immediate or extended family are considered to be at risk of any of them.

Of my parents 6 children, now aged between 45 and 60, only I have developed cancer, and mine too is non-hereditary and unconnected to that of any other family member.

So my family has a history of cancer - but there is no hereditary cancer in my family.

Unless all the family members you mention all had the same cancer, the same may well be true of you.

Answer 10

As far as i know some forms are??

Answer 11

All cancers are caused by changes to materials in our bodies called “genes.” These are units of information in every cell of our bodies. Everyone has two copies of each gene, one from each parent. During development, genes tell our cells what type of tissue to become—a skin cell vs. a muscle cell, for example—and in later life, when to divide and make more cells. Genes also determine which proteins to make based on the type of cell and its needs. Some genes tell our bodies how to repair damage from environmental toxins, sun exposure, dietary factors, hormones, and other influences, or tell our cells when to stop growing.

When changes called “mutations” occur in the genes, certain cells can grow out of control and cause cancer. Gene mutations that can lead to cancer usually happen later in life. Over time, these changes occur as a result of the aging process, from exposure to things such as smoke, hormones, certain viruses, certain chemicals or from dietary influences. Not all damage to our cells leads to cancer, however, because our bodies have many methods for repairing damage and because we are all born with two copies of these damage-repairing genes.

Hereditary cancers occur when a person is born with a change or mutation in a single copy of a protective gene pair. Because people with an inherited mutation have only one working copy of a protective gene, damage to that remaining gene may occur in fewer steps and over a shorter period of time. This change can increase the risk for certain cancers in different parts of the body. The medical community uses the term "genetic susceptibility" to describe the fact that people with an inherited mutation have an increased risk for cancer.

The change does not increase the risk for every type of cancer and not everyone who is born with a gene change will develop cancer; risks vary according to the exact mutation that was inherited. Many other factors affect the risk of cancer in someone born with a gene mutation. Scientists do not know all the factors that determine whether or not a person with a gene change will develop cancer over the course of his or her lifetime.

The term “hereditary cancer syndrome” describes an inherited gene mutation that increases the chance to develop one or more types of cancer. For instance, the main hereditary breast cancer syndromes—caused by mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes—are also associated with an increased risk for ovarian cancer. The main hereditary colon cancer syndrome, called Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer (HNPCC), can also be associated with an increased risk for ovarian cancer or uterine cancer. Other, more rare cancer syndromes can be associated with a wide variety of cancers.