What to do when cancer runs in the family?

 Source: TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Last updated on -Sep 3, 2023, 11:00 IST

Family history can suggest if you have a cancer risk​

There is a very close bond between health risks and the diseases that run in your family. One of the most important diseases that has a very strong presence within families is cancer. "There are many genetic syndromes or hereditary family syndromes which predisposes every individual of that family, every family member is at more cancer risk than an average person who does not have a family history of cancer," says Dr. Pooja Babbar, Consultant - Medical Oncology, CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram.

Family history increases the risk by 5 to 10 times​

"So, if there is a member in the family who has cancer, the other members are at least 5 to 10 times at a higher risk of contracting a cancer," explains Dr. Babbar. "Each gene in our body has 2 functional copies, and for a cellular pathway to be defective, it needs both these copies to be corrupted, called as Knudson two-hit hypothesis. When one inherits a defective copy from the parents, only one further copy needs to get corrupted for the cellular pathway to go haywire, contrary to two ‘hits’ required for normal person," explains Dr. Bhuvan Chugh, Senior Consultant - Medical Oncology, Max Hospital Gurugram.

First relatives are more at risk​

As per Dr. Sunny Jain, Oncologist, Marengo Asia Hospitals, Faridabad, "if cancer runs in the family, then the concerned first relative means daughter of the mother right, mother's mother, or son or brother. These are the 1st relatives and obviously the siblings around. They should be more vigilant. They should meet the genetic counselor who will actually do the chemo typing and gene analysis and will get to know whether the kids, let me call over here, do have the affected or the defected copy of a gene or not."

These three things should be considered​

Dr. Babbar explains that if cancer runs in the family, we have to take three things into consideration, the age of the person who gets the cancer, the number of members in the family who get the cancer, and the type of cancer.

Genetic testing​

It is important to have genetic testing for the cancer. "The best genetic test should be done in a person who is suffering from cancer because the chance of getting a gene mutation in that particular person is the highest. So, for example, there are four members in the family, and one female has breast cancer. So, the ideal person to first test for a genetic syndrome is the female herself. If she comes positive then we have to test the other members of the family for the same gene and then we have to advise if they come positive what they need to do.

Are all cancers inherited?​

"Not all of these mutations are inherited or passed down the family lines. The mutations which are passed down the family lines are called hereditary mutations. Certain hereditary mutations predispose an individual to a much greater risk of developing cancer as compared to the general population," says Dr. Chugh. "The most common of hereditary gene defects is BRCA (Breast Cancer Related Gene) part of the Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome. The presence of a defective BRCA gene predisposes women to a higher risk of ovarian and breast Cancers. It also increases the risk of pancreatic cancers in both males and females and prostate cancers in males. The BRCA gene is an important gene in the DNA repair pathway. DNA defects occur frequently during replication and these errors are repaired by genes such as BRCA, and defects in these genes cause DNA errors to accumulate and cellular pathways to be affected leading to the onset of cancer," he adds.