Is leukemia hereditary?

Many people wonder if leukemia is hereditary. In fact, some scientific research has shown that genetic factors are indeed closely related to leukemia, and there is also a close connection between chromosomal and gene abnormalities.

More than 100 years ago, it was proposed that genetic factors may play a role in the development of human leukemia. Studies have confirmed that there is a close connection between genetic factors, chromosomes and gene abnormalities. The occurrence of some leukemias is related to genetic factors, as evidenced by the following:

(1) Among monozygotic twins (identical twins) , if one has leukemia, the chance of the other also having leukemia is about 20%-25%, which is 12 times higher than that of dizygotic twins (fraternal twins). The types of leukemia are mainly acute lymphocytic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia. ?

(2) The incidence of leukemia among siblings of leukemia patients is about 2-4 times higher than that in the natural population (10/100,000), and the types of leukemia are mainly acute lymphocytic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia. ?

(3) Certain hereditary diseases are often accompanied by a higher incidence of leukemia. Most of these hereditary diseases involve chromosomal aberrations and breaks. For example, in Down syndrome, chromosome 21 is trisomic, which makes it easy to develop acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The incidence of leukemia is 40-60/100,000, which is about 15-20 times higher than that of normal children. In addition, Fanconi anemia and Bloom syndrome are prone to complications of acute myeloid leukemia, ataxia telangiectasia is prone to complications of acute lymphocytic leukemia, and Kleinefelter syndrome (congenital scrotal dysgenesis) is prone to complications of acute myeloid leukemia. ?

Although the occurrence of some leukemias is closely related to genetic factors, the vast majority of leukemias seen in daily life are not hereditary diseases. ?