Clinical
How genes affect the risk of developing cancer
Genetic testing is increasingly used to analyse whether a person carries an increased risk of developing a particular cancer. This is based on the observation that damage to specific genes is associated with specific cancers. In most cases, that damage occurs in a single cell, which then goes on to form cancer. However, there are also many examples in which a mutation is inherited from a parent in every cell of a person’s body, and this makes them more prone to specific types of cancer. This article discusses the nature of the genes that are inherited in this way, how they are altered and the extent to which they affect an individual’s risk of developing cancer.
