The Genetics of Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a form of cancer that preferentially affects the lymphocyte cells of the immune system and as such it can travel around the body and cause the entire human system to become infected. Lymphoma tends to affect around three times more males than females each year and while the majority of sufferers are over the age of 60, the age group 25-35 is also at increased risk. Researchers are still working to find out why this is.
As with every other form of cancer, lymphoma does have a genetic factor involved in its development and people who have cases of lymphoma in their immediate family are at a higher risk of developing the disease themselves, especially if they are male and in the above mentioned age group. Cancer is thought to develop because of random mutations in the DNA of a cell and because members of the same blood line have virtually identical DNA structures then the risk of their DNA mutating in the necessary place is slightly higher than the mutation just occurring randomly. This is especially true for siblings and in particular male siblings.
Because children get the DNA profile from their parents, all children of the same two parents will have many sections of DNA in common and if there is the potential for mutation in one child then there is also the potential for mutation in any other children. For this reason, anyone who develops lymphoma cancer is told to inform all of their close relatives i.e. parents, siblings and even offspring so that they can all be tested and continuously monitored for any signs of the disease.
Identical twins are most at risk from familial cancer, including lymphoma, and when one twin develops the disease there is a twofold chance that the other twin will also develop the disease at some point during their life. This is because identical twins have exactly the same DNA sequences and so a dormant but potential mutation in one twin's DNA will almost definitely be present in the other twin's DNA. Studies have shown that when identical twins do both develop lymphoma then it is often the exact same type which is surprising being as there are over 30 known sub-types of Hodgkin's and nonHodgkin's lymphoma. Strangely however it is uncommon for identical twins to develop lymphoma at the same age and so there must be other factors that determine when a genetic disease starts to form. These factors could include health i.e. healthier people with strong immune systems may have slightly more defense against chronic diseases, occupation e.g. stressful jobs or jobs that involve using airborne irritants/carcinogen ic materials could induce DNA mutation at an early age, and diet/exercise regimes.
Whatever the initial cause the outcome will be the same and if either twins or siblings are diagnosed with lymphoma cancer will undoubtedly experience the same symptoms and undergo the same tests and the same intensive treatments. This means that the rest of the family will need to be incredibly strong in order to support the patients, regardless of whether their lymphomas become apparent within the same year or 20 years apart.
Your family's past can have a huge impact on your future health, so if you don't have a sense of genealogy, an online people search may help. By going though countless public records, you can find marriage records, death certificates and more.