Familial (inherited) cancers represent about 10% of all cancers of a given type. The primary genetic mutations responsible for familial cancers (almost) always occur in tumor suppressor genes, not in oncogenes. What aspects of early embryonic development might provide an explanation for this observation?
Answer :)
Oncogenes are made to cause cancer but tumor suppressor genes are responsible to control the cell division, induce apoptosis, and repair DNA. The tumor suppressor genes are started to function just after fertilization. During the early embryonic development, a tumor suppressor gene, p53 is present in high concentration. If p53 is mutated, it cannot then control the cell division efficiently and hence cannot repair the DNA correctly. Therefore, tumor suppressor genes are responsible for familial cancers.
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