Heredity plays a role in cancer development. Obviously, we can’t do anything about our genetic make-up, but it is still a fact that an individual may begin life with a damaged gene.
Heredity plays a role in cancer development. Obviously, we can’t do anything about our genetic make-up, but it is still a fact that an individual may begin life with a damaged gene. In some cases it may be one that would usually function to help repair DNA alterations. A person might have inherited this defective gene from a parent. Therefore, their chances of developing cancer may be higher than someone who has the normal gene just because they won’t be able to repair mutations in DNA as well as they should. One of the genes that has stirred up a great deal of interest is called p53. The normal p53 gene is responsible for repairing damage to DNA. The p53 gene makes a protein that runs along the DNA strands, comparing the two and fixing alterations that arise naturally. If an individual has a damaged p53 gene, he/she may not be able to repair DNA alterations that arise from everyday life.
The largest and most recent study involving genetics and cancer required the participation of 44,000 sets of twins. The researchers found that identical twins have a much greater chance of developing the same type of cancer than do fraternal twins. The thought was that sinc
e identical twins have the exact same genes, similar cancers in a set of twins may be the result of those genes. The results of this particular study indicated that about 30% of all cancer types could be linked to genes. The three most heritable types according to the study were prostate, 42%, colorectal, 35% and breast, 27%. Of course, these numbers are only estimations based on the results from the study and may vary.
The study showed that the identical twins had an 11-18% risk of developing the same cancer before the age of 75. For fraternal twins the risk went down to 3-9%. Neither percentage is very striking, leading to the idea that the causes of cancer are more closely linked to lifestyle than to genetics. The researchers went on to say that 60-70% of all cancers could be avoided by making small changes in our diet and how we live our lives. To break it down further, the researchers calculated that smoking may account for as much as 35 % of all cancers while diet may attribute to about 30% of all cancers. Many other studies come to the similar conclusion that diet and lifestyle really do make a difference in an individuals chances of developing cancer.
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