What is hereditary cancer? How is it different from sporadic cancer?
Cancer is a common disease, so most families will have some members who have had cancer. Hereditary cancers occur when a person is born with changes or mutations in certain genes which normally protect against cancer. In the majority of these cases, the changes were inherited from the mother or father. These changes can increase the risk for cancers in different parts of the body. The changes do not increase the risk for every type of cancer and not everyone who is born with a gene change will develop cancer. These inherited gene changes can be passed down to children, with a 50% chance to pass them to each child. The main hereditary breast cancer gene changes—caused by mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes—are also associated with an increased risk for ovarian, fallopian tube, and other cancers. Other cancer syndromes can be associated with other types of cancers.
