Hello, My mother once had skin cancer and breast cancer, and I am very concerned about whether it is hereditary. It sounds stupid, but somehow I don’t dare to ask my mother….
Answer
Dear Lisa
Rest assured, most cancers are not hereditary. Only a very small percentage of cancers (about 5%) are familial or hereditary. The vast remainder is caused by harmful external influences (eg smoking or solar radiation) or by spontaneous mistakes during the life course, and is therefore not inherited.
Most breast cancers are not hereditary. Here one sees 5 to 10% of the breast cancers that do have a hereditary character. But even in those cases, it is not yet the case that the children will immediately develop cancer later on. I wouldn’t worry too much. You can always discuss it with your doctor.
Sincerely
Filip Lardon
Answered by
Prof. dr. Dr Filip Lardon
– Medicine and Biomedical Sciences – Oncology, Cancer, Scientific Cancer Research – Physiology
Prinsstraat 13 2000 Antwerp
http://www.uantwerpen.be
.