Clinical Genetics Assessment Approximately 5 percent to 10
percent of all cancers occur as a result of hereditary factors
that are passed on in families. This statistic should be
reassuring: Although many people have relatives who had colon or
breast cancer – types of cancer that are common in the
population – the majority should not be concerned they are
particularly susceptible to these cancers simply because a
family member had them. Hereditary cancer typically results from
an abnormal alteration in a single gene that may then be passed
on in a family. People with this altered gene have a
significantly higher chance of developing the cancer. The goal
of the Hereditary Cancer Program at the Siteman Cancer Center is
to help people who have a family history of cancer assess their
cancer risk. The program’s medical geneticist and three genetic
counselors and geneticist see more than 150 families each year,
many of whom are referred by their own physicians. For more
information about hereditary cancer and Sitem