Is cancer a heredity disease?

Question

Is cancer a heredity disease ......what do think?If yes or no why?

Answer 1

Some cancers are known to be hereditary. Certain types of breast cancer are hereditary - they have found the BRAC-1 and -2 genes in certain families and those with the gene have an extremely high probability of getting it. A friend of mine had the gene and died of it and her sister and mother are breast cancer survivors. Her 20-something daughter recently discovered she has the gene and as soon as she has her children (which she will do soon since she is married), she will have both breasts removed and her uterus and ovaries (people with the gene are also at higher risk of other reproductive cancers).

Answer 2

Propensity to cancer can be. Try Vitamin C therapy. A few years ago a cancer specialist came out with a paper that said the best cancer/infection fighter found to date was Interferon. At the time it was $15,000 a gram. The paper also said that Interferon was a by-product of the natural breakdown of Vitamin C in your body. Shortly after that the FDA tried to make Vitamin C by prescription only. Guess why? The FDA has the RDA for Vitamin C set at 64 mg a day, just enough to ward off scurvy. Linus Pauling, who got a Nobel Prize for his work with Vitamin C and a second Nobel Prize for Organic Chemistry, said that 1000 mg a day should be the minimum and 2000 mg a day if you are sick or smoke. He played tennis almost daily until the day he died at 96. Personally, I got sick twice a year for 2 weeks at a time, for more than 20 years, with something to this day the doctors have no idea what it was, but for a week in the middle of those 2 weeks I was flat on my back. I started Vitamin C therapy once I gave up on the doctors. I took enough to be asymptomatic for those 2 weeks. Too much and I got diarrhea and too little and I got sick. Within a narrow range, and it followed a bell curve over those 2 weeks, I was not sick. At the height I was taking 40,000 mg a day and 300,000 over the 2 weeks. After 2 years of that I have not been sick since – more than 15 years. Vitamin C acts as a natural diuretic so you need to drink a lot of water and watch your body in total, but my kidneys did not dissolve as the doctors predicted, or get massive kidney stones as other predicted. I did not dissolve my bones as some predicted or completely calcify my joints as others predicted. I had no side effects at all. It might be something to consider.

Answer 3

No, only some are connected to genetics. There are over 200 different types of cancer. Actually, very few are hereditary.

You can read more about hereditary cancers and genetics at the National Cancer Institute:

Elements of Cancer Genetics Risk Assessment and Counseling
http://www.nci.nih.gov/cancertopics/pdq/genetics/risk-assessment-and-counseling/healthprofessional

Hereditary Cancer Risk
http://www.facingourrisk.org/hereditary_cancer/hereditary_cancer_and_genetics.html?PHPSESSID=fa80450d322f18930a2f8559f5451adb

For all other cancers no one really knows why one person will be at risk to develop cancer, while another person does not. There may be a multitude of factors, not just one.

Answer 4

Yes and no.... having a family history of a certain cancer can make you more likely to develop the disease, but in most cases if you avoid the risk factors, you can avoid the disease.

Having a relative with cancer (say, breast cancer) makes you more likely to have breast cancer... but if you avoid exposure to things that seem to stimulate cancer (say, birth control pills) you are less likely to develop the cancer. However, you still have a higher chance of developing it than someone with no family history...

Also, this differs greatly with different types of cancer... Some are usually related to carcinogens (cancer causing substances, like tobacco, pesticides, etc) and others appear for no reason.

Answer 5

Cancer is not hereditary, but a weakness for cancer may be caused by physical features, that are hereditary.

I have a history of a certain cancer on both sides of my family. I think it's important for me to have my blood checked from an early age to know if I have the beginnings of cancer. That means it is more possible to avoid the development of cancer, especially it's metastasizing, with early intervention.

I think it's always best for your peace of mind to know where you stand in relation to cancer.

Answer 6

A host of genetic and enviromental factors increase the risk of developing cancer .Certain families have a significantly higher risk of developing certain cancers,for example a womens risk of developing breast cancer increases by 1.3 to 3 times if her mother or sister had breast cancer.Some breast cancers are linked to a specific genetic mutation, more common in some ethnic groups and families. Others like colon and some types of skin cancer's tend to run in families as well.People born with certain chromosonal anomilies,like "Downs Syndrome" are 12 to 20 times more likely to develop acute "Leukemia's". Diet is also a important factor,enviromental exposures to chemicals,smoke,and ultraviolet over exposure mainly from sunlight .Geographic ,exposures to certain viruses,like papilloma,CMV and Epstein-Barr is responsible for "Brukkits Lymphoma" in Africa ,and in China it causes cancers of the nose and throat.Obviously some additional factor,either genetic or enviromental is needed for the Epstein-Barr virus to cause cancer.HIV viruses cause Lymphoma and other cancers of the blood system.There is a parasite in the far east that are responsible for 2 forms,bladder and pancreatic and bile duct's.Cancer risk's have changed over time.Take stomach cancers it was 4 times higher than today,they have declined steadily since 1930's,due to public education and awareness.Other cancers have increased due to women smoking and developing lung cancers. Take for instance the elderly,more than 60 % of cancers are people over 65,due to longer life span and weakening of the immune system. All these factors contribute. Cancer is very complicated and diverse,and so is the research going on world wide,to develope medicines and treatment. Take care. SW RNP

Answer 7

could be one of the causes...few years it was but now there are so much triggers to it, and depends in which part it is , breast cancer is one, but nowadays the way of life and chemicals we are exposed to gave no Chance to heredity.

Answer 8

Heredity is the gun. But its necessary a Bullet to works.
Smoke, toxins, obesity and others can trigerr it.

Answer 9

Some cancers have a genetic predisposition, breast runs in some families for example.

Answer 10

i think of it is extra a case of preventative action, i.e, if heart ailment runs in families and an offspring is at extra suitable hazard, then that distinctive can cut back their probabilities of coming up CHD(in the event that they have not already) by retaining a healthful existence type and so on...all it in fact skill is that the guy is at extra hazard of coming up CHD than say, a individual with out kinfolk history of CHD