Am I right to worry about cancer genes?

THERE’S a lot of cancer in my family. A first cousin in the US is being checked out for Lynch Syndrome. Is this just relevant to our family? Nobody has ever mentioned it to us.

LYNCH Syndrome is an inherited condition that puts people at risk of developing certain types of cancer. Patients who have this identified have a higher risk of developing bowel cancer.

Affected women have an increased chance of developing womb cancer and ovarian cancer.

The first clues to possibly having this inherited syndrome are an increased number of relatives getting a diagnosis of bowel cancer. Three or more people in your family would signify risk.

If there is a history of colon, womb or ovarian cancer in the family this is also a potential risk. Equally, if anyone has had bowel cancer under the age of 50 this might be a sign.

Lynch Syndrome is essentially a genetic typo. As an individual you have 30,000 pairs of genes, derived from your parents. In this syndrome there are anomalies in four different genes.

They occur in particular genes called mismatch repair genes. These genes repair damage to cells.

Cell damage can be a cause of cancer so it’s easy to see that if these genes are faulty, your cells may be vulnerable.

Testing is done by means of a blood test. It is absolutely imperative that this is done with genetic counselling.

Remember that if you take a test it has implications, not just for you but other family members. I would dig deeper into why your cousin is being tested and also look at the family tree in terms of cancer.

In Ireland we have a high rate of colorectal cancer, most of which is sporadic rather than inherited. It would be unusual for a relative to pass through the system in Ireland and not have this flagged up.

Make out a family tree and book an appointment with your GP to discuss the next steps.