Studies show half the risk for testicular cancer is genetic

     Cancer can be caused by a plethora of environmental factors such as lead, tobacco and ones diet, though it can also be directly hereditary. Some cancers are almost exclusively hereditary while some are exclusively environmental, though in most cases cancer is more environmental. Lots of research is put into the cause of different types of cancer in order to find ways to diagnose early (if its genetic in most cases) or prevent the cancer (if its environmental.) Recently a study was concluded on testicular cancer that found the split between genetic and other causes was about fifty-fifty. What was more surprising is that a large majority of the genetic variants are still undiscovered. 

      "'Our study has shown that testicular cancer is a strongly heritable disease,' said Dr. Clare Turnbull, a senior researcher at the Institute of Cancer Research. 'Our findings have important implications in that they show that if we can discover these genetic causes, screening of men with a family history of testicular cancer could help to diagnose those at greatest risk, and help them to manage that risk.'"

     

     The researchers used the Swedish population registry to analyze patterns of over 15 million along with genetic codes of about 6,000 in the UK, in all totaling 10,000 testicular cancer patients. Their research showed about 49 percent of the risk factor was inherited genetics while typically its about 20 percent for most cancers. Most of these genetic errors were minor variations in the DNA with over 90 percent still undiscovered.

This UPI article can be found Here.