Hereditary Factors and the Risk of Lung Cancer

Hereditary Factors and the Risk of Lung Cancer

It is recognized that a number of cancers, like ovarian cancer and colon cancer, run in families. Although the role of heredity in cancer of lung is not as well-known, having a family history of the disease does raise our risk to some extent. Hereditary lung cancer is higher in women, nonsmokers and those with early onset the cancer.

While it is renowned that smoking leads to cancer of lung, there are individual differences in vulnerability to lung carcinogens. Discoveries of latest studies show that individuals with a family history are at increased risk of this disease.

Smoking cessation is not easy. Latest data have put forward that various hereditary factors raise the risk of addiction to nicotine amongst some individuals. Even so, millions of former smokers have stopped successfully.

Cancer of lung is the third most common type of cancer diagnosed in the United States and is the primary cause of death in the country and in the world. Studies differ in the types that have the greatest hereditary component, but those with non small cell lung cancers are more possible to have a family history of the cancer.

Generally, having a family history of cancers other than cancer of lung does not appear to raise the risk that you will develop the cancer. On the other side of the equation, however, those that develop more than one primary lung cancer are considerably more possible to have a genetic tendency contributing to their cancer.

Stopping smoking (if you smoke), investigating your home for radon, eating a healthy diet and exercising can all assist let down your risk of developing lung cancer whether you have a family history or not.