Does esophageal cancer have a genetic background?

There is an obvious family clustering phenomenon in the incidence of esophageal cancer. In areas with a high incidence of esophageal cancer, it is not uncommon for families to have esophageal cancer patients for three or more generations in a row. Surveys in Shanxi, Shandong, Henan and other provinces in my country found that 1/4 to 1/2 of esophageal cancer patients had a positive family history. In high-incidence areas, the proportion of positive family history was highest in the paternal line, followed by the maternal line, and lowest in the collateral line. Immigrants who moved from high-incidence areas to low-incidence areas have a relatively high incidence rate even after more than a hundred years. In addition, the living environment also affects the incidence of esophageal cancer. It has been found that 1/2 of esophageal cancer patients have lived with their families for more than 20 years in high-incidence areas. The impact of genetic and environmental factors on the incidence of esophageal cancer may be changes at the molecular level. Studies have found that in some families with a high incidence of cancer, there are often point mutations in tumor suppressor genes, such as p53. In this group of people, if there are acquired factors that cause mutations in another allele, it will cause abnormal expression of oncogenes and form tumors. Data from recent years show that mutations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes do exist in patients with esophageal cancer.