Vandana Mahajan, Palliative Care Counselor, Cancer Counselor, Patient Advocate, and Cancer Survivor, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“When patients are diagnosed with Lung Cancer, they commonly have concerns about cause, can it be passed on and family risk. These concerns are often expressed in questions such as the following:
1. Why did this happen and how did I develop lung cancer?
2. Can I pass this cancer on to my children?
3. Are my children at risk of developing lung cancer?
In our 172nd support group meeting these questions were addressed by Dr Sunil Chopade. The gist of the session was :
‘The majority of lung cancers arise from acquired (somatic) mutations, meaning they develop during life and are not typically inherited across generations’
Dr Sunil explained the difference between Acquired ( somatic) , inherited( germline) and familial mutations .
1. Somatic – occurs in body cells during life.
2. Hereditary – inherited from parents.
3. Familial – runs in families.
ChatGPT summarized this very well
Think of a book of instructions (DNA):
- Somatic mutation – A typo in one copy of the book you are using.
- Hereditary mutation – The typo was already in the original printing, so every copy has it.
- Familial mutation – Several people in the same family own books with the same typo.
Patients and caregivers were relieved knowing that they will not pass on lung cancer to their children.”
Other articles about Lung Cancer on OncoDaily.