Genetic Susceptibility to Cancer

Despite progress in many areas of treatment and control, cancer remains a frightening threat to everyone. While scientists have known for decades that the majority of human cancers are caused by environmental agents such as radiation and the chemicals in cigarette smoke, not everyone who smokes gets lung cancer. Furthermore, many people who assiduously avoid all possible risk from smoking, diet, and pollution still succumb to some form of cancer later in life. Does this mean that there is an element of blind chance in the underlying mechanisms of human carcinogenesis? To what extent do genetic influences play a role in determining the cancer risk of individuals? A number of "cancer families", in which several closely-related individuals have suffered from various specific forms of cancer, have been studied by genetic epidemiologists. However, for the majority of cancer cases, little or no discernible genetic influence or family history is found. This text explains that this idea of "bad genes" may contain an unexpected positive side.The carcinogenic effects of these metabolic genes, unlike those of the oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes that are responsible for the inherited cancer syndromes, can potentially be overcome or nullified. This volume should provide a useful reference for health professionals, researchers, clinicians and biomedical scientists who are interested in the current thinking in this critically important area of cancer management.