Is it likely that nasopharyngeal cancer will be inherited?

In clinical work, I have seen many nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients and their families who are very concerned about the question "Is nasopharyngeal carcinoma hereditary?" So far, it can be said with certainty that nasopharyngeal carcinoma is not a genetic disease. This is because genetic diseases must conform to certain genetic laws, that is, in the next generation of patients, the probability of occurrence of different genders can be predicted based on genetic laws. However, nasopharyngeal carcinoma does not conform to this law, and the incidence rate of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cannot be predicted in the next generation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

However, in our study, we found that the familial clustering of nasopharyngeal carcinoma is much more obvious than other tumors. In a family in Guangdong, there are 46 people in four generations, 13 of whom suffered from nasopharyngeal carcinoma. A few years ago, I met a pair of twin brothers, one living in Guangdong and the other living in the United States, but the two brothers developed nasopharyngeal carcinoma in the same year. Recently, I treated a patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. His family of 5, his father, brother and sister have successively developed nasopharyngeal carcinoma. He himself is also very worried and goes to the hospital for regular check-ups. However, he was recently diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and is receiving treatment. In clinical work, it is not uncommon for brothers, sisters, fathers and sons to develop nasopharyngeal carcinoma one after another. In the past three years, I have also treated a pair of brothers and a pair of sisters with nasopharyngeal carcinoma who developed the disease in the same month. It can be seen that the familial clustering of nasopharyngeal carcinoma is particularly obvious. Although nasopharyngeal carcinoma is not a genetic disease, it is still related to heredity.

This phenomenon of nasopharyngeal cancer is called genetic susceptibility. Its pathogenesis can be understood in this way. Some of the genetic materials (also known as DNA by professionals) of these high-cancer family people are less stable, and are more likely to mutate and form cancer when exposed to certain carcinogens. It can also be understood from another perspective. These high-cancer family people have a relatively poor ability to resist carcinogens, and the threshold for cancer is relatively low. Normal people will develop cancer only after being exposed to a large amount of carcinogens for a long time, while these high-cancer family people will develop cancer after being exposed to only a little bit of carcinogens. It's like natural water boils when heated to 100°C, while some special water only needs to be heated to 60°C to start boiling.

For people with high cancer families, how to do a good job of prevention? Although a large number of researchers have been committed to finding susceptibility genes for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and want to change the characteristics of susceptibility genes through gene therapy to achieve the purpose of preventing nasopharyngeal carcinoma. But so far, there has been no major breakthrough in this research, and there is still a long way to go for genetic prevention. Although the susceptibility gene cannot be repaired at present, prevention work can be done from the following aspects: First, you should actively participate in physical exercise, combine work and rest, and enhance the body's resistance. Secondly, develop good living habits, do not smoke, do not drink alcohol, and eat healthily. Thirdly, minimize contact with carcinogens and avoid engaging in occupations that have contact with carcinogens. Finally, go to the hospital for regular physical examinations and strive for early detection and early treatment, because the treatment effect of early nasopharyngeal carcinoma is very good.