is cancer genetic?

Question

i have a really dear friend of mine that might lose her father because of stomach cancer, she told me members from both sides of her family had this...her grandparents, her aunts, her mother and father...does that mean she will get it too? and if it is genetic, what are the chances of my friend getting the disease? i'm really worried about her and i dont know much about cancer, and i want to do all what's possibl to help her

Answer 1

Cancer--which is really 100s of different diseases that all share the common characteristic of abnormal cell multiplication---is multifactorial. In other words, MANY things contribute to its development.

Genetics does play a role, and for a handful of cancers, the responsible genes have even been identified.

However, environmental and lifestyle factors also play in to cancer development. A person can have a strong family history of cancer and remain cancer-free throughout life.

Just as your friend is not doomed to develop cancer, people without family histories are not protected. More than 85% of women diagnosed with breast cancer, for example, have *no* family history.

Tell your friend to live life happily, and do all the "good stuff"---eat well, exercise, get plenty of rest, find enjoyable activities, and so on. She can vastly minimize her risk. She can also educate herself about the specific risk factors for the cancer her family is dealing with--her father's doctor would be a great resource.

Answer 2

Well you have asked a very good question and a very difficult one to answer with a blanketed comment. Such as at what age did they have cancer, did they all have the same form of cancer-was it all stomach, what is their ethnic origin. Where does she reside currently? It would be nice to have some more background information. With that being said, I will do my best to try and shed some more light on this for you.

I think you might be asking the wrong question as well. Is all cancer genetic? All cancer has a genetic mutation which over time leads to more and more cells that look different from the normal cells that arose from...after enough time and cell reproduction, and internal growth mechanisms being turned off, it leads the cells from becoming "different" and into the cells becoming cancerous or malignant. So all cancers have a genetic mutation or change that makes it a cancer cell. If there wasn't any, then it would still be a normal cell.

If you are asking, is there a genetic link with stomach cancer and this family, then that is an entirely different story. Stomach cancer is not a readily identifiable mutation on most genetic tests. However, if there is this much prevalance of stomach cancer in this family, I would encourage them to seek out genetic counseling and medical advice. They would most likely start with one of the original family members that were diagnosed with stomach cancer and see if there was an identifiable mutation there, and then would move on down the line. If there is no genetic link, then they would probably stop after the 2nd person was tested. However, if your friend still wanted to be tested, she could be if she wished.

I would suggest she be counseled first, answering a series of questions that would see if she was even a good candidate for testing. If she is, then proceed, if not, then discontinue. Genetic testing can be quite costly and none of us know the ramifications of insurers on its members that are found to have a probability for a cancer type.

I hope this helps. If you want more information there is a cancer professional that began their own website. They are trying to educate patients and family members on cancer. They are also more then willing to answer any and all questions people may have in regards to cancer.
http://cancergeek.wordpress.com

Answer 3

many forms are in fact genetic, like breast CA. Sounds like she has a major family history of this so it looks genetic. It doesn't mean she will get it, but she should def get screened and keep a close eye on it. All cancers are much better treated with early detection. I'm sure with a family history like that, she is aware of what she needs to do. Advances are happening evryday with cancer so the odds are in her favor that she will get early and definitive treatment past generations did not have.

Answer 4

Men's Health Magazine just had a story on genetic cancers and stomach was one of them. The family can be tested for the genes to remove some of the uncertainty and then make decisions based on that. It is odd that both sides of the family carry the gene.

Answer 5

Most cancers occur in the same family purely by chance.

Many are due to lifestyle/enviromental factors in common.

Only about 5% of cancers are genetically linked.

If there is a strong family history, genetic testing & councelling is available.

Answer 6

some forms of cancer are genetic.your friend must be very care full and avoid stuff that can cause cancer,such as too much sunbathing,smoking,drinking,caffeine,dying her hair too often...she must be really care full,if other members of the family died because of cancer,'cause probably she has it too.she must visit a doctor quite often,just to check if everything is all right.don't scare her;tell her that she might need to visit a doctor to check what is going on.and as is said before,she must stop smoking and drinking(if she does)
and do a mammography often and if she feels some kind of pain or if she understands that something else is going on,she must go to a doctor as soon as possible.
you can also search through the web;there are too many articles about preventing cancer.
i am sure that you can help her,as long as you don't tell her scary things about cancer...

Answer 7

Fewer than 10% of all maximum cancers situations, all varieties, are hereditary. maximum cancers clinically determined after the age of fifty is even much less probable to be hereditary. you do no longer inherit a well-known tendency to get maximum cancers and there is no well-known 'maximum cancers gene'. 2 kin, unrelated to one yet another, having had maximum cancers does not improve you danger. an illustration that maximum cancers could be hereditary interior of a relations is while various participants of the comparable area of that relations have had the comparable form of maximum cancers, noticeably if some stronger it at a youthful than universal age. that's no longer the case on your loved ones and there is no reason to think which you're at greater advantageous danger of any form of maximum cancers. the two my parents had maximum cancers; so did 2 of my grandparents and my mom's sister, brother and nephew. No participants of my instantaneous or have ever been considered at greater advantageous danger of any of the cancers that they had. Of my parents' 6 toddlers, now elderly from late 40s to early 60s, in basic terms I even have had maximum cancers and mine too grow to be non-hereditary and unrelated to theirs. you have been given some extremely intense incorrect information in some solutions right here. The 'counsel' snoopysfan's uncle surpassed directly to him is a hoax digital mail that has been extensively circulated and keeps to do the rounds often times. Johns Hopkins have denied that it got here from them. Breast maximum cancers isn't any plenty greater probable to be hereditary than the different form of maximum cancers; this fantasy is repeated each time a question is requested approximately hereditary maximum cancers. in actuality in basic terms 5 - 10% of all breast maximum cancers situations are hereditary. And the place maximum cancers (breast or the different type) IS hereditary, there is no development of it 'skipping generations' - it relatively is yet another fantasy

Answer 8

cancer is heridetary samething like diabetis my mom is diabetis and theirs 12 of us bro. and sister in 12 sibling 4 of us has it.just tell her injoy life, because life is too short and dont worry about her because you cant tell who will go first.