An increasing number of cancers are known to be hereditary. This means that they are related to a specific gene mutation that is passed down inherited in a family. This means it may be passed down to the next generation. Individuals who inherit such gene mutations have a higher risk of developing certain forms of cancer as compared to the general population.
Inherited gene mutations help to explain why, in some families, we see more people than expected with certain kinds of cancer. Research has found some of the genes that help to explain specific patterns of hereditary cancer in some families. Other genes, with varying degrees of significance, will continue to be identified in the future. By studying families with inherited gene mutations, researchers know of features that may help to identify other families at risk for hereditary cancer.
Because this type of hereditary cancer is a relatively new science, most of the research available to date is about the first inherited genes for breast cancer that were discovered, BR breast CA cancer 1 and BRCA2.
They will be the subject of the rest of this page, although the information can apply to all risky genes. As a person ages, DNA mutations occur by chance, in different genes, in different cells. The BRCA protein will not be made in that cell and the cell may begin to divide. This may allow a cancer to develop. With a mutation in one copy of a BRCA gene in every cell already, as described earlier, it only takes one chance mutation in the other copy for the stage to be set for a cancer.
A person who is born with two normal copies of the BRCA genes in every cell would have to acquire a mutation in both copies of the same gene in the same cell for that process to start..
It creates an abnormal protein. An abnormal protein provides different information than a normal protein. This can cause cells to multiply uncontrollably and become cancerous. Acquired mutations. These are the most common cause of cancer. For example, this could be a breast cell or a colon cell, which then goes on to divide many times and form a tumor. A tumor is an abnormal mass. Cancer that occurs because of acquired mutations is called sporadic cancer.
Acquired mutations are not found in every cell in the body and they are not passed from parent to child. Germline mutations. These are less common. A germline mutation occurs in a sperm cell or egg cell. It passes directly from a parent to a child at the time of conception. As the embryo grows into a baby, the mutation from the initial sperm or egg cell is copied into every cell within the body. Because the mutation affects reproductive cells, it can pass from generation to generation.
Cancer caused by germline mutations is called inherited cancer. Mutations happen often. A mutation may be beneficial, harmful, or neutral.
This depends where in the gene the change occurs. Typically, the body corrects most mutations. A single mutation will likely not cause cancer. Usually, cancer occurs from multiple mutations over a lifetime. That is why cancer occurs more often in older people. They have had more opportunities for mutations to build up. When a tumor suppressor gene mutates, cells grow uncontrollably.
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