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Inherited Cancer Syndromes

  • Chapter
Genetic Susceptibility to Cancer

Part of the book series: Developments in Oncology ((DION,volume 79))

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Abstract

A small but significant fraction of human cancer cases are caused directly and specifically by inherited genetic factors. In some instances, the types of tumors found in these inherited cancer syndromes are rare or unusual; in others they are indistinguishable from the more common sporadic forms of non inherited tumors. The main features that differentiate most inherited cancers from sporadic cases are earlier age of onset, and a strong family history (usually two or three cases in first degree relatives) of the same tumor type and pattern. In a family where two brothers both develop colon cancer below the age of 40, and one of their uncles died of the same disease at age 45, there is a strong likelihood for the existence of an inherited cancer syndrome in the family. On the other hand, a person whose mother dies of breast cancer at age 73, and whose father dies of prostate cancer at age 82, is probably not a member of a cancer syndrome family, since at these ages the frequencies of these cancer types are common enough that two or more could occur in the same family simply by chance.

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  1. University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey New York University Medical Center, USA

    Seymour Garte

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  1. Seymour Garte
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© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Garte, S. (1998). Inherited Cancer Syndromes. In: Genetic Susceptibility to Cancer. Developments in Oncology, vol 79. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4989-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4989-5_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7265-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-4989-5

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