Familial Cancer Flashcards
Genetic and environmental contributions to cancer
Progressive model for colon carcinogenesis
What are somatic mutations? Can they be inherited?
Occur in a single body cell and cannot be inherited
What are germline mutations? Can they be inherited?
Occur in gametes and can be passed onto offspring (every cell in the entire organism will be affected)
How can germline mutations affect your predisposition to cancer?
Can be born with inherited mutation that leaves you more susceptible to cancer e.g. mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes which predispose to breast and ovarian cancer
What type of cancer does a mutation in MLH1 predispose you to?
hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer
What is the ‘two hit hypothesis’?
This hypothesis serves as the basis for the understanding of how mutations in tumor suppressor genes drive cancer.
Most loss-of-function mutations that occur in tumor suppressor genes are recessive in nature. Thus, in order for a particular cell to become cancerous, both of the cell’s tumor suppressor genes must be mutated.
What is a classic example of the ‘two hit hypothesis’?
Retinoblastoma
What is retinoblastoma?
Normally, retinoblasts stop growing and dividing during embryogenesis and differentiate. Typically, these differentiated cells do not divide very often, if ever. In the case of retinoblastoma, however, the retinoblasts fail to differentiate; thus, these cells continue to divide, forming tumors in the retina.
How does retinoblastoma prove the ‘two hit hypothesis’?
- Knudson’s combined data itself showed that retinoblastoma was caused by a germ-line mutation in approx 40% of cases
- BUT some children with an affected parent were disease-free BUT had children with retinoblastoma
- Suggests that an individual could inherit a germ-line mutation but not have the disease
- Both copies of the gene would need to be mutated in order for retinoblastoma to occur
- Individuals who inherited a mutation in one allele of the gene would only need to accumulate a single mutation in the remaining normal allele of any retinoblast in order for cancer to occur (more likely)
- However, without an inherited mutation, the same cell would need to accumulate two mutations—one in each allele of the gene (less likely)
What is penetrance?
Penetrance measures the proportion of individuals in a population who carry a specific gene and express the related trait. E.g. complete penetrance is a mutation that will cause symptoms in 100% of people who carry it
What are gatekeeper genes?
Directly regulate tumour growth: monitor and control cell division and death, preventing accumulation of mutations
What are caretaker genes?
improve genomic stability e.g. repair of mutations
What are landscaper genes?
Control the surrounding stromal enviroment
what is stroma?
the supportive tissue of an epithelial organ, tumour, gonad, etc., consisting of connective tissues and blood vessels.
The likelihood of developing cancer depends on the importance of the gene function. What is the risk of developing colorectal cancer if the mutation occurs; a) sporadically b) in gatekeeper (FAP) c) in caretaker (HNPCC) d) in landscaper (JPS, UC)?
Autosomal dominant inheritance:
A few cancer syndromes show autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. What is the chance of the child being affected?
- Each parent is a carrier of one mutated copy, usually without the disease
- ¼ of children inherit both mutated copies and the cancer risk
- Appears to skip generations and may account for some sporadic cases
Sporadic vs familial cancers
