Chapter 14
Taking a Closer Look at the Genetics of Cancer
IN THIS CHAPTER
Defining what cancer is (and isn’t)
Understanding the genetic basis of cancer
Looking at the different types of cancer
If you’ve had personal experience with cancer, you’re not alone. We’ve lost family members, coworkers, students, and friends to this insidious disease — it’s highly likely that you have, too. Second only to heart disease, cancer causes the deaths of around 609,000 persons a year in the United States alone, and it was estimated that nearly 1.7 million Americans would be diagnosed with cancer in 2019. Cancer is a genetic disorder that affects how cells grow and divide. Your likelihood of getting cancer is influenced by your genes (the genes you inherited from your parents) and your exposure to things in your environment, particularly certain chemicals and radiation. However, some cancers occur from random, spontaneous changes in the DNA — events that defy explanation and have no apparent cause. In this chapter, you find out what cancer is, the genetic basis of cancers, and some details about the most common types of heritable cancer.
Get Genetics For Dummies, 3rd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
