Bowel cancer is inherited
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Cancer of the large intestine is one of the most common oncological diseases. It was believed that the main cause of its development is malnutrition, smoking, excessive frenzies, and eating low-fiber foods.
However, British scientists associate colon cancer with not only the above factors. Specialists from the Institute for Cancer Research and Oxford University found a relationship between the development of bowel cancer and certain genetic mutations. In their opinion, it is these mutations in the genes that have a significant impact on the risk of developing malignant tumors.
The results of the research of scientists are published in the scientific journal Nature Genetics.
Scientists have discovered two genes, POLE and POLD1, which are transmitted from parents to children - this increases the risk of developing bowel cancer, and this fact explains why some families are at high risk.
By the way, mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are a similar example. It is these mutated genes that increase the risk of developing breast cancer in women.
Experts conducted a detailed analysis of the DNA of twenty people in the family history of which intestinal cancer was diagnosed more than once.
Scientists have found a link similar to that which is observed in the case of breast cancer, however, the POLE and POLD1 genes play a decisive role in this case.
Among the 20 participants in the study, who had taken biological samples and carried out a detailed genetic analysis, some had already been diagnosed with "intestinal cancer," and some people had relatives who were currently fighting the disease.
One of the participants in the study, 28-year-old Joe Wigend, a resident of Hampshire, heard about his diagnosis from the specialists who conducted the analysis. Now he has an operation to remove the part of the intestine.
"In our family, there is plenty of intestinal cancer. My grandmother on the paternal line, her sister, as well as my father, was diagnosed with this disease. And my cousins found not only an intestinal tumor, but also a brain tumor, "says Joe. "Of course, it's not for nothing, something is going wrong in our family."
"Mutations of the POLE and POLD1 genes can be inherited from parents to children. Despite the fact that these gene modifications occur infrequently, the one who has unfortunately inherited them sharply increases the threat of developing colon cancer, "commented one of the authors of the study, Professor Richard Hulston.
Experts hope that the findings will help people who are at increased risk of developing this disease, as well as those families where intestinal cancer has become a family illness. To do this, scientists say, a targeted analysis should be conducted, with the help of which it will be clear whether there are mutations in these genes.
In addition, mutations in the POLD1 gene are associated with an increased threat of brain and uterine tumor development .
[