EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -The most commonly mutated gene in people with cancer is p53 or TP53. More than 50% of cancers involve a missing or damaged p53 gene. Most p53 gene mutations are acquired. Germline p53 mutations are rare, but patients who carry them are at a higher risk of developing many different types of cancer.

Detailed explanation-2: -Cancer is a genetic disease; tumor cells differ from their normal progenitors by genetic alterations that affect growth-regulatory genes. There exist 2 classes of such cancer genes: the oncogenes, which function as positive growth regulators, and the tumor suppressor genes, which function as negative growth regulators.

Detailed explanation-3: -Inheriting certain gene changes. About 5% to 10% of breast cancer cases are thought to be hereditary, meaning that they result directly from gene changes (mutations) passed on from a parent. BRCA1 and BRCA2: The most common cause of hereditary breast cancer is an inherited mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene.