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Q: Cancer causes and DNA
asked by: DoctorQuestion on August 26th, 2009
my mom died of ovarian cancer. Do I have a high risk of cancer? What screening measures/tests I can take? I am 30 y/o male.


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Dr. Goce Aleksovski , MD
replied on August 31st, 2009
Cancers Answer A7170


Although the causes for cancer are completely examined, numbers of hypotheses exist. Mutation of genes, viral or bacterial infection, heredity, and immune system dysfunction are all pointed to as possible causes for malignant tumors.


The presence of certain genes (which are copied from a parent’s DNA) increases the risk for certain types of cancer. For example, certain inherited mutations in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 are associated with an elevated risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.


However, the presence of certain genes is highly unlikely to be related to a higher risk for all types of cancer.


Therefore, testing only for the same type of cancer and similar ones is recommended in the offspring.


You might want to visit an oncologist and obtain additional data about this issue.




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