Genetic Predisposition to Cancer

...valuable to a wide audienceBritish Medical Journal

• Part One Basic Principles Genetic predisposition to cancer: an introduction From families to chromosomes: genetic linkage, and other methods of finding cancer-predisposition genes From chromosomes to genes: how to isolate cancer predisposition genes. Part Two Inherited Cancer Syndromes Retinoblastoma: the paradigm for a genetically inherited cancer syndrome Neurofibromatosis - types I and II Multiple endocrine neoplasia Wilms tumour and other genetic causes of renal cancer The Li-Fraumeni syndrome and the role of TP53 mutations in predisposition to cancer. Part Three Chromosome Fragility Syndromes and the Gorlin Syndrome Malignant disease and variations in radiosensitivity ataxia telangiectasia patients Fanconi's anaemia The Gorlin (nevoid basal cell carcinoma) syndrome Xeroderma pigmentosum, Cockayne syndrome and trichothiodystrophy: sun sensitivity, DNA repair defects and skin cancer. Part Four The Common Cancers Genetics and the common cancers Familial breast cancer The breast ovarian cancer syndrome and BrCA1 Screening for breast cancer in high-risk populations The management of women with a high risk of breast cancer: (1) the role of prophylactic tamoxifen (2) the controversy of prophylactic mastectomy Psychological distress associated with genetic breast cancer risk Familial ovarian cancer Familial colon cancer syndromes and their clinical management The genetics of familial colon cancer Familial prostate cancer and its management Familial melanoma and its management Familial predisposition to lung cancer. Part Five Health Care Aspects The cancer family clinic Screening for mutations in cancer predisposition genes The ethics of testing for cancer predisposition genes.