{"id":8857,"date":"2025-04-01T20:07:06","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T17:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/?p=8857"},"modified":"2026-04-20T18:54:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:54:33","slug":"oncogenetics-how-genes-affect-the-risk-of-developing-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/en\/oncogenetics-how-genes-affect-the-risk-of-developing-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Oncogenetics: How Genes Affect the Risk of Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 class=\"\" data-start=\"295\" data-end=\"319\"><strong>What is oncogenetics?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"321\" data-end=\"659\">Oncogenetics is a branch of genetics that studies inherited and acquired mutations in genes that may influence the risk of developing malignant tumors. It is about <strong data-start=\"479\" data-end=\"509\">inherited gene variants<\/strong>, which are passed down from parents, and about <strong data-start=\"550\" data-end=\"590\">mutations that occur throughout life<\/strong> due to environmental influences, viruses, and unhealthy lifestyle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"661\" data-end=\"869\">Thanks to oncogenetic studies, it is possible to assess <strong data-start=\"711\" data-end=\"747\">individual susceptibility to cancer<\/strong>, timely detect critical changes at the molecular level and develop a personalized prevention and treatment strategy.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"\" data-start=\"871\" data-end=\"906\"><strong>What genes are associated with oncology?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"908\" data-end=\"1048\">The most well-known are genes<a href=\"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/en\/analysis\/diagnosis-of-tumor-markers\/oncogenetics-brca1-brca2-identification-of-genetic-polymorphisms-associated-with-the-risk-of-breast-cancer\/\"> <strong data-start=\"933\" data-end=\"942\">BRCA1<\/strong> \u0456 <strong data-start=\"945\" data-end=\"954\">BRCA2<\/strong><\/a>, mutations in which increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer. But there are other important genes:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"1050\" data-end=\"1371\">\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"1050\" data-end=\"1135\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1052\" data-end=\"1135\"><strong data-start=\"1052\" data-end=\"1060\">TP53<\/strong> \u2014 cell cycle regulation, mutation is associated with many types of cancer<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"1136\" data-end=\"1193\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1138\" data-end=\"1193\"><strong data-start=\"1138\" data-end=\"1145\">APC<\/strong> \u2014 associated with the development of colorectal cancer<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"1194\" data-end=\"1270\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1196\" data-end=\"1270\"><strong data-start=\"1196\" data-end=\"1216\">MLH1, MSH2, MSH6<\/strong> \u2014 DNA repair genes associated with Lynch syndrome<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"1271\" data-end=\"1330\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1273\" data-end=\"1330\"><strong data-start=\"1273\" data-end=\"1281\">CDH1<\/strong> \u2014 linked to stomach and breast cancer<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"1331\" data-end=\"1371\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1333\" data-end=\"1371\"><strong data-start=\"1333\" data-end=\"1341\">PTEN<\/strong> \u2014 tumor growth suppressor<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1373\" data-end=\"1454\">Oncogenetic testing can detect the presence of mutations in these and other genes.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1373\" data-end=\"1454\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8859\" src=\"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/doctor-wearing-with-substances-front-view.jpg\" alt=\"Doctor explaining oncogenetic test results to patient\" width=\"1200\" height=\"522\" srcset=\"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/doctor-wearing-with-substances-front-view.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/doctor-wearing-with-substances-front-view-150x65.jpg 150w, https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/doctor-wearing-with-substances-front-view-600x261.jpg 600w, https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/doctor-wearing-with-substances-front-view-300x131.jpg 300w, https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/doctor-wearing-with-substances-front-view-1024x445.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/doctor-wearing-with-substances-front-view-768x334.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"\" data-start=\"1456\" data-end=\"1505\"><strong>What is a genetic test for cancer susceptibility?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1507\" data-end=\"1738\">A genetic test is a laboratory test that analyzes a patient&#039;s DNA to detect mutations that increase the risk of developing certain types of cancer. The test is usually performed on venous blood or cheek mucosal epithelium.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1740\" data-end=\"1768\"><strong data-start=\"1740\" data-end=\"1768\">Indications for testing:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"1770\" data-end=\"2075\">\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"1770\" data-end=\"1841\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1772\" data-end=\"1841\">Having multiple cases of cancer in the family (especially at a young age)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"1842\" data-end=\"1926\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1844\" data-end=\"1926\">Combination of different types of tumors in one relative (for example, breast and ovarian cancer)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"1927\" data-end=\"1970\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1929\" data-end=\"1970\">Cancer cases in young people (&lt;40 years)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"1971\" data-end=\"2036\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1973\" data-end=\"2036\">Planning preventive measures or choosing treatment tactics<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"2037\" data-end=\"2075\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"2039\" data-end=\"2075\">Desire to assess individual risk<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"\" data-start=\"2077\" data-end=\"2122\"><strong>What are the benefits of oncogenetic testing?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul data-start=\"2124\" data-end=\"2486\">\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"2124\" data-end=\"2198\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"2126\" data-end=\"2198\"><strong data-start=\"2126\" data-end=\"2143\">Risk assessment<\/strong> \u2014 understanding the individual likelihood of disease<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"2199\" data-end=\"2283\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"2201\" data-end=\"2283\"><strong data-start=\"2201\" data-end=\"2217\">Prevention<\/strong> \u2014 possibility of regular monitoring or preventive measures<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"2284\" data-end=\"2352\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"2286\" data-end=\"2352\"><strong data-start=\"2286\" data-end=\"2313\">Personalized therapy<\/strong> \u2014 selection of effective treatment methods<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"2353\" data-end=\"2423\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"2355\" data-end=\"2423\"><strong data-start=\"2355\" data-end=\"2381\">Family counseling<\/strong> \u2014 relatives can also get tested<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"2424\" data-end=\"2486\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"2426\" data-end=\"2486\"><strong data-start=\"2426\" data-end=\"2460\">Reducing cancer anxiety<\/strong> \u2014 in the absence of mutations<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"\" data-start=\"2488\" data-end=\"2527\"><strong>Table: Examples of genes and cancer types<\/strong><\/h3>\n<div class=\"overflow-x-auto contain-inline-size\">\n<table data-start=\"2529\" data-end=\"3197\">\n<thead data-start=\"2529\" data-end=\"2622\">\n<tr data-start=\"2529\" data-end=\"2622\">\n<th data-start=\"2529\" data-end=\"2542\">Gene<\/th>\n<th data-start=\"2542\" data-end=\"2578\">Types of associated cancer<\/th>\n<th data-start=\"2578\" data-end=\"2622\">Comment<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody data-start=\"2718\" data-end=\"3197\">\n<tr data-start=\"2718\" data-end=\"2817\">\n<td>BRCA1\/2<\/td>\n<td>Breast, ovaries, prostate<\/td>\n<td>Most often tested if there is a family history<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr data-start=\"2818\" data-end=\"2912\">\n<td>TP53<\/td>\n<td>A wide range of tumors<\/td>\n<td>Li-Fraumeni syndrome<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr data-start=\"2913\" data-end=\"3007\">\n<td>APC<\/td>\n<td>Colorectal cancer<\/td>\n<td>Familial polyposis syndrome<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr data-start=\"3008\" data-end=\"3102\">\n<td>CDH1<\/td>\n<td>Stomach cancer, breast cancer<\/td>\n<td>Increased risk at a young age<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr data-start=\"3103\" data-end=\"3197\">\n<td>MLH1, MSH2<\/td>\n<td>Colorectal, endometrial<\/td>\n<td>Lynch syndrome<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"\" data-start=\"3199\" data-end=\"3252\"><strong>Can cancer be prevented by knowing genetic risks?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3254\" data-end=\"3495\">Thanks to oncogenetic screening, a person can <strong data-start=\"3300\" data-end=\"3362\">get a colonoscopy, mammogram, MRI, or other tests on time<\/strong> to detect tumors at an early stage. In some cases, drug prophylaxis or even preventive surgery is recommended.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3497\" data-end=\"3678\">For example, women with the BRCA1 mutation have up to an 80% risk of developing breast cancer \u2014 and can discuss with their doctor the issue of prophylactic mastectomy or regular surveillance.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"\" data-start=\"3680\" data-end=\"3726\"><strong>Recommendations from WHO and international associations<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3728\" data-end=\"3877\">According to the recommendations <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"3752\" data-end=\"3778\">WHO<\/a>, <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nccn.org\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"3780\" data-end=\"3808\">NCCN<\/a> and <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esmo.org\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"3812\" data-end=\"3840\">ESMO<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/en\/genetic-testing-possibilities-types-and-characteristics-of-implementation\/\">genetic testing<\/a> recommended:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"3879\" data-end=\"4057\">\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"3879\" data-end=\"3931\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3881\" data-end=\"3931\">all patients with suspected hereditary forms of cancer<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"3932\" data-end=\"3978\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3934\" data-end=\"3978\">family members with identified mutations<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"3979\" data-end=\"4057\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"3981\" data-end=\"4057\">for making decisions about the choice of therapy (targeted drugs, PARP inhibitors)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"4059\" data-end=\"4127\">Genetic counseling is a mandatory component of such testing.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"\" data-start=\"4129\" data-end=\"4142\"><strong>Limitation<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul data-start=\"4144\" data-end=\"4378\">\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"4144\" data-end=\"4198\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"4146\" data-end=\"4198\">Testing does not guarantee that cancer will definitely occur.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"4199\" data-end=\"4251\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"4201\" data-end=\"4251\">Cost remains high for individual panels<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"4252\" data-end=\"4304\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"4254\" data-end=\"4304\">Results can cause psychological distress<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"4305\" data-end=\"4378\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"4307\" data-end=\"4378\">Not all mutations have clinical significance - specialist interpretation is required<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Oncogenetics is not only about risks, but also about opportunities. It gives us a chance to act proactively, change the scenario, and preserve our health\u2014for ourselves and for future generations.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is oncogenetics? Oncogenetics is a branch of genetics that studies inherited and acquired mutations in genes that can affect cancer.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":8858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/627"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medilab.km.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}