• Question: How does cancer run in the family?

    Asked by Adele to Rob on 18 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Rob Appleyard

      Rob Appleyard answered on 18 Nov 2014:

      I’m not a biologist, but I believe that the short answer is ‘genetics’. You inherit genes from both your parents, and those genes shape how your body works and develops.

      Some genes of those genes can make people more susceptible to certain kinds of cancer, either because they cause a system that creates new cells to work too hard, or because they cause a system that’s supposed to control cell growth not to work.

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