WhatisThyroidCancer?

Howdoesitaffectyou
andyourfamily?
ByImeldaQuintero,sisterofcancerpatient

April28,2016

Exactlywhatcausespeopletogetcancerandisit
becauseofgenetics.Myfamilyhasahistoryof
cancer,socoulditbebecauseofourgenes?Ihave
neverresearchedcancerbecauseithasnotdirectly
affectedmebutaftermysisterwasdiagnosedI
neededtofindoutwhoandwhyshegotthyroid
cancer.

Whataregenes?Itiswhatcodesforeverythingin
ourbody.Genesarepresentinalmosteverycellof
ourbodyandcarriestheinstructionsourcellsneed
tofunctionproperly.Wegetthesegenesfromourparents23chromosomesfrombothyour
motherandfatherforatotalof46.Genesisaverybroadtermthatbasicallydeterminesasingle
characteristiclikehaircolor.Thespecificgeneisanalleleandthiswouldbeaspecifictraitsuch
asbrownhair.Thesegenesaredefinedbygenotypeswhichisthecodeforthatcharacteristicthat
isshownandthephenotypeiswhatkindoftraititwillbewhetheritbedominantorrecessive.

Expertssaythegeneswearebornwithmaycontributetoourriskofdevelopingcertaintypesof
cancerincluding:breast,ovarian,andprostate.Everyonehassomeriskofdevelopingcancer,
andinmostcausesitdevelopsbychance.Howeversomepeoplearegeneticallypredestinedto
developingcertaincancers.Cancerisusuallycausedbygenemutationsthatoccurrandomlyin
oneorafewcellsofthebody.Suchgenechanges,calledsomaticmutations,mayariseasa
naturalconsequenceofagingorwhenacellsDNAhasbeendamaged.Acquiredmutationsare
onlypresentinsomeofthebodyscells,andtheyarenotpassedonfromparentstotheir
children.

Howeversomepeoplewithdevelopcancerbecauseofahereditarymutation.Peoplewhocarry
thismutationdonotnecessarilyhavetogetcancerbutareatahigherriskofdevelopingit.
Genetictestingisnowavailableforsomehereditarycancers.Ifyouhaveafamilyhistoryof
cancerjustasminedoes,orifyouwouldliketofindoutwhetheryouorafamilymemberhasan
increasedlikelihoodofdevelopingcancer,Iencourageyoutoconsultwithaspecialistwhohas
experienceintheareaofhereditarycancer,cancerriskassessment,andgeneticcounselingand
testing.

thyroidcancersoccurapproximatelythreetimesmorefrequentlyinwomenthanmen,although
thereasonforthisdifferenceisunknown.Womenalsotendtodevelopthesecancersatanearlier
age40sto50sthanmen60sto70s.Thiscancerlikemanyotherscanbedevelopedorhavean
increaseinriskbecauseofgeneticabnormalities.TheInheritedmutationsinagenecalledRET
havebeenassociatedwiththedevelopmentofmedullarythyroidcancers,andaccountfor
approximatelyoneoutoffourcases.Thisconditionisknownasfamilialmedullarythyroid
cancerFMTC.IndividualswiththisgeneticmutationoftendevelopFMTCduringchildhoodor
earlyadulthood.
TheresearchIhavedonehashelpedmeunderstandhowthesisterpossiblydevelopedcancer.I
alsonowunderstandthatitmaybebecauseofourfamiliesgeneticsandbecauseofthisIwill
havemyselfandmyfamilygeneticallytestedforthiscancer.