Colon cancer, genetics, genes and teens?!?
uhhh so basically, my daddys DAD aka grampa died of colon cancer when he was old. I was wondering, will it go down to me or my other sibling? (im in the early teens, and hes late teens). I know it is rare, but j/w. i know its rare for teens to get it, and just recently my uncle got prostate cancer. but he is not related my dads side of family, my moms. bummmer
Cancer - 6 Answers
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1 :
There is some familial association of colon cancer, more with the predisposing conditions such as multiple polyposis and sessile polyps.
2 :
Yes, you're at a higher risk for cancer. There's no telling who will or who won't get cancer.
3 :
Colon cancer has very strong tendencies from a hereditary aspect. If you are susceptible for colon cancer you are also more likely to develop breast and uterine cancer. Since you may be at risk, you'll want to let your doctors know of your family history so they can watch for signs of it. They should suggest colon cancer screening and testing for your dad, you and your sibling earlier than normal due to the heredity factor. The factor does not guarantee that you will develop the colon cancer, but you will have stronger tendencies toward it, with some influence based on the type of gene that causes it in your family. Here's a link from WebMD.com that does a good job of explaining the heredity factor: http://www.webmd.com/hw/colorectal_cancer/uf6902.asp Colon cancer runs in my family too so I understand your concerns. Be sure to discuss your concerns with your family doctor and if you notice any of the symptoms then immediately check into it so you can get treatment as quickly as possible. Good luck and best wishes.
4 :
Colon cancer is actually not unusual in the elderly population. It has to do with the accumulation of mutations that ultimately culminates in cancer. However, if colon cancer happens in a younger individual, his/her first degree relatives should be more closely screened. Normally, it is recommended that men and women begin colon cancer screening (via colonoscopy) by the age of 50. For those who have young relatives with colon cancer, they should begin screening 10 years earlier than the age at which colon cancer was found in that relative. Colon cancer can be a hereditary disease, but usually there are multiple family members with colon cancer, colonic polyps, or both. Furthermore, there are other types of cancer (i.e. ovarian) that can also be associated with colon cancer. Depending on the family history, the degree of suspicion for colon cancer being hereditary may or may not go up.
5 :
Colon cancer isn't a rare cancer. By far, the most common reason that people get this problem is that slowly, over a long period of time, all those cells in the colon which are constantly replacing themsleves and reproducing will finally yield one that reproduces wrong - but exactly in the "right" wrong way to produce a cancer. Colon cancer stems from a series of genetic mutations that occur as a result of imperfect reproduction. Most of the time, when an error happens in DNA replication, the cell that it creates just doesn't function and it gets destroyed. However, with all the billions of cells in the colon, and with all the unimaginable number of cell cycles and DNA replications, eventually one of them produces exactly the right series of errors, unleashing a cancer. It's amazing that it doesn't happen more! The system of cell reproduction is quite high-fidelity. In general, having had a relative with a history of colon cancer doesn't put you in a high risk group. That being said, there ARE such things as familial cancer syndromes and some of them are related to colon cancer. In some, the colon cancer happens in the setting of multiple types of colon problems that usually create bleeding, anemia, and weight loss. In other people, there may not be a specific symptom pattern that alerts doctors, but there is a strong family history of multiple relatives in the family having had early diagnosis of colon cancer. One elderly relative with such a history is not part of this pattern. Unless there are specific risk factors (such as a colon disease associated with early-life colon cancer, or a strong family history suggestive of a cancer-family syndrome) colon cancer doesn't start to become a threat till after age 50. The standard recommendation is that people after 50 undergo regular colon cancer screening, and there are a number of acceptable methods. I personally recommend regular screening colonoscopy. The standard for this is to perform it every 10 years in order to adequately screen (starting at age 50). I recommend doing it every 5, but I'm paid to be paranoid. ...I hope that helps!
6 :
People get Colorectal cancer or any other type of cancers due to a main reason called heriditary. One of the risk factor mentioned in the books is given below for your information. The lifetime risk of developing colon cancer in the United States is about 7%. Certain factors increase a person's risk of developing the disease. These include: Heredity: Family history of colon cancer, especially in a close relative before the age of 55 or multiple relatives Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) carries a near 100% risk of developing colorectal cancer by the age of 40 if untreated Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) or Lynch syndrome So You should have periodical, say atleast once in a year, the cancer detection tests from now and if at all you get it can be detected in the very early stage and cured compleatly. Do not worry. See an Oncologist for conducting the tests. Formore informations please visit :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_cancer
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