Familial Cancer Syndromes
Definition
Familial cancer syndrome is a genetic condition that causes an increased risk for specific types of cancers. Familial cancer syndromes account for only 5-10% of all cancers.
Description
Most cancer is not inherited. Cancer is common; in 2000, over 1.2 million new cancer cases were diagnosed. Many people have relatives who have had cancer, but most of the time this is due to chance or environmental factors. In a familial cancer syndrome, an inherited genetic mutation causes a person to be at increased risk for cancer and other physical symptoms. There are many different familial cancer syndromes, and each one has a specific set of characteristic cancers and physical symptoms associated with it. For example, BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations are associated with an...
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