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  • STORIES

    DD, Aged 17

    When people would talk they didn't know what to say which was understandable.  more...

  • STORIES

    Mimi - 15 years old

    I lost myself doing stupid things, angry and sad and depressed at everything. I ended up failing my classes, not caring about school, and getting into fights.  more...

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    Chelsea - 14 years old

    I stuck my head round the door in the room mum was in, and she looked really ill. I couldn't understand what was happening - one minute my mum was fine and the next she was ill.  more...

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    Clair - aged 14

    Something I wish is I could just have one more day with my dad! - to tell him how much I love him and how sorry I am for all the bad things I have said and done to him!  more...

  • STORIES

    Nicole - 17 years old

    This time the doctors are unable to operate. He has already had 6 sessions of chemo and is having another 6 sessions. I cannot help feeling I may lose him.  more...

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    Rirrif - 15 years old

    I have been staying with my dad because my mom doesn't want me around when she is sick, which is all the time. My dad works at night so I spend a lot of time alone since I'm not with my mom. I'm afraid she is going to die and I'll blame myself for not being there more. more...

  • STORIES

    HT - 13 years old

    She has been so strong about this and is keen to put it all behind her.  more...


you are in: knowledge of cancer  | faqs  | can we inherit cancer?

Can we inherit cancer?

We can't inherit cancer but we can inherit faulty genes

Cancer is a disease that develops within cells that behave in an abnormal way so we can’t actually inherit cancer. But, it is possible to inherit damaged genes from our parents that can increase our risk of developing cancer. It's important to know that even if we inherit damaged genes that increase our risk of developing cancer, it doesn't mean that we will get cancer. That is in fact quite rare and only 2-3% of all cancers are caused by faults in genes that someone is born with. In most cases, faults in our genes which can lead to cancer, are faults that develop through our lifetime and is not gene faults that we have inherited from our parents.

If you wish to learn more about how cancer develops you could have a look in our section called “Genetics of cancer”. 

If you want to know more about cancer ‘running in families’ you can have a look in Maggie's CancerLinks’s section on cancer and families.

Also, you can get in touch with us here at riprap anytime if you have any queries or just want to talk things through.

Page updated 18 June 2015

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