Mutations that are passed on from parents are present in one in 12 pediatric cancers

A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine provided new findings that a large number of children with cancer inherited the cancer-predisposing mutations from a parent.  60 different genes associated with germ-line mutations were studied from 1, 120 pediatric cancer patients, as well as 966 noncancer patients.

Pediatric cancer has always been confusing considering the children are not alive long enough to have experienced a large amount of exposure to different carcinogens that cause errors in DNA.  Having this knowledge can be helpful for new treatments to the children as well as other family members that may be at risk.

Though a decent amount of hereditary factors are seen in these cancers (40% of patients with germ-line mutations had a family history of cancer), the penetrance of these variants is unknown, meaning that only a certain number of the mutations will go on to cause cancer in the carriers.

Why can this information be useful to treatment?  Some genes have signature reactions to different treatments, so knowing the mutation that is causing the cancer can prevent using the wrong treatment.  Also, cancer patients with germ-line mutation cancer in paired organs indicate that the other organ is also at risk, doctors will attempt to save both organs to their best ability. This could also be important when choosing bone marrow donors because siblings, which are often used as donors, can also be a carrier of the mutation.

Knowing the mutations in cancer patients can be extremely important in a more personalized form of treatment, and can also help the family by helping those who are also susceptible to know what screenings for the future are necessary, and if there are particular lifestyle changes that need to be made in order to lower their risk of developing the cancer.

Here is a link of the article:  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/childhood-cancer-risk-hides-in-families/