Can cancer skip every other generation in your family?

Question

Can cancer be so hereditary as to skip every other generation in a family? On my dad's side of the family it seems like it does. Both my great grandmothers on my father's side had cancer (breast cancer and another type) and a great grandfather had cancer as well. My grandparents did not have cancer. My father ended up having cancer out of the three of my grandparents children. Me nor any of my cousins have had cancer. Is it possible any of our children will?

Answer 1

According to the American Cancer society data, at least one in three of us will develop a cancer at some time in our lives.  There are more than 200 types.  Some have hereditary components, and some do not (that we know about).  Breast cancers may be associated with an inherited factor.  You don't mention what other types of cancer are in the family.



So, the answer is yes, cancer could easily skip generations just based on chance alone and not necessarily on any hereditary predisposition.  If there is a history of early (younger than the usual age) breast cancers in your family, you could talk to your doctor about screening tests to see if you or the children need closer monitoring.

Answer 2

Hereditary cancer is rare; fewer than 10% of all cancer cases are hereditary.

An indication that cancer is hereditary in a family is that several members of the family, on the same side, have had the SAME type of cancer. If family members have several different types of cancer, there is no hereditary factor.

The only cancer type you mention is breast cancer; only 5 - 10% of breast cancer cases are hereditary. If your great grandmother is the only member of your family that has had breast cancer, it was non-hereditary like most breast cancer.

It sounds as if you are probably no more likely than the average person to get cancer. With one in three people getting cancer at some point in their lives, it's not unusual for several members of the same extended family to have non-hereditary cancers. This is the case in my own family.

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

Of my parents' 6 children, now aged between 46 and 60, I am the only one who has developed cancer, and mine too is non-hereditary.

So there is a lot of cancer in my family history, but no hereditary cancer in my family. The same may well be true of your family

Answer 3

Cancer does just about anything it wants to. You could get cancer, or your kids, or both. It just means that it runs in your genes.