Childhood Cancers (selected)

Adrenocortical Cancer

Medulloblastoma

Ewing's Sarcoma

Germ Cell Tumours

Hepatoblastoma

Leukaemia

Neuroblastoma

Osteosarcoma

Retinoblastoma

Rhabdomyosarcoma

Wilms' Tumour

Ataxia-Telangiectasia

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome

Denys-Drash syndrome

Down Syndrome

Fanconi Anaemia

Gorlin's Syndrome

Li-Fraumeni Syndrome

Neurofibromatosis Type 1

Neurofibromatosis Type 2

Perlman Syndrome

Rothmund-Thomson Syndrome

WAGR syndrome

Are Childhood Cancers Hereditary ?
Syndromes Predisposing to Childhood Cancer
Risk of Cancer Among Offspring of Childhood-Cancer Survivors
Clinical and Epidemiological Information

Only about 5% of childhood cancers have a clear hereditary basis. From a UK study of 16,564 children with cancer it was estimated that 4% of childhood cancers had a known genetic-hereditary basis (Narod, 1991). The most frequently recorded diagnoses with a hereditary basis were: retinoblastoma (37% of retinoblastoma cases), Wilms' tumour (7% of cases), leukaemia (3% of cases) - associated with Down's syndrome, and brain tumours (2% of cases) - associated with neurofibromatosis. Similarly, in a US study of 556 twins with childhood cancer (Buckley 1996) the overall rate of inherited cancers was 5% and just 2% when excluding retinoblastoma (based on MZ case-wise concordance rates). Also, rates of cancer among off-spring of childhood cancer survivors are reported to be similar to those for the general population. Future studies will determine if small differences in specific genes (polymorphisms) are associated with cancer susceptibility in the context of gene-environment interactions.

Narod SA, et al. An estimate of the heritable fraction of childhood cancer. Br J Cancer 1991 Jun;63(6):993-9    Related articles (PubMed)

Buckley JD, et al. Concordance for childhood cancer in twins. Med Pediatr Oncol 1996 Apr;26(4):223-9    Related articles (PubMed)

Medline Search: hereditary childhood cancer (PubMed)   Limit search to: [Last Year]  Limit search to: [Last 2 Years]   Limit search to: [Reviews]

 

Clericuzio CL Recognition and management of childhood cancer syndromes: a systems approach. [Review] Am J Med Genet 1999 Jun 25;89(2):81-90    Related articles (PubMed)

Shannon K. Genetic predispositions and childhood cancer. [Review] Environ Health Perspect 1998;106 Suppl 3:801-6    Related articles (PubMed)

Narod SA, et al. Congenital anomalies and childhood cancer in Great Britain. Am J Hum Genet 1997 Mar;60(3):474-85    Related articles (PubMed)

Narod SA, et al. An estimate of the heritable fraction of childhood cancer. Br J Cancer 1991 Jun;63(6):993-9    Related articles (PubMed)

Medline Search: childhood cancer AND syndrome AND risk (PubMed)   Limit search to: [Last Year]  Limit search to: [Last 2 Years]   Limit search to: [Reviews]

Related Resources

Syndromes Predisposing to Childhood Cancer (Menu)

 

Sankila R, et al. Risk of cancer among offspring of childhood-cancer survivors. Association of the Nordic Cancer Registries and the Nordic Society of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology. N Engl J Med 1998 May 7;338(19):1339-44    Related articles (PubMed)

Hawkins MM, et al. Cancer in the offspring of survivors of childhood leukaemia and non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Br J Cancer 1995 Jun;71(6):1335-9    Related articles (PubMed)

Hawkins MM, et al. Cancer among 1,348 offspring of survivors of childhood cancer. Int J Cancer 1989 Jun 15;43(6):975-8    Related articles (PubMed)

Medline Search: cancer AND offspring of childhood cancer survivors (PubMed)   Limit search to: [Last Year]  Limit search to: [Last 2 Years]   Limit search to: [Reviews]