Gastrointestinal Cancer Risk and Prevention
People can develop cancer for different reasons, but a number of people have a higher chance of developing the disease because of a family cancer history. This means that some types of cancer run in the family and the predisposition can be inherited because a problem gene is passed down from one generation to the next.
Understanding your risk
It's important to know what gastrointestinal cancer means and whether it runs in your family. Gastrointestinal tumors include cancer of the colon, stomach, pancreas, and esophagus. A disposition to develop these diseases may run in your family if:
- You have a parent, brother, sister or child who has been diagnosed with a gastrointestinal cancer or uterine cancer;
- You or any family member have had a gastrointestinal cancer or uterine cancer before the age of 50;
- You or a relative have had more than one cancer (including colorectal cancer);
- You or a relative have had pre-cancerous conditions such as polyps in the colon or stomach; or
- You have a known history of a hereditary colon cancer
syndrome, such as:
- hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer (HNPCC),
- familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP),
- juvenile polyposis, or
- Gardner syndrome.
