Is cancer caused by one gene Please provide details to suppo

Is cancer caused by one gene? Please provide details to support your answer

Solution

Cancer cannot be linked to a single gene. It is usually seen that there a multiple number of genes and a multiple number of mutations in these genes can cause cancer. To explain this further we will have to understand that cancer is not caused by a single mutation within a gene. Cancer is usually caused by mutation within key genes.

These key genes include:

Thus cancer can be caused by multiple mutations in several key genes i.e. there can be multiple mutations in proto-oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and DNA repair genes.

An example that can be given to justify this is the breast cancer. Breast cancer has been linked to inheritace of abnormal BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 gene (which is a tumor suppressor gene). It is seen that only having an abnormal BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 gene does not indicate that the person will have breast cancer but instead mutations in chromosome pieces will also contribute to develop breast cancer.

One of the most common cancer in the world is lung cancer. Mutation in either EGFR or KRAS gene can cause lung cancer but there are other genetic mutations which can also lung cancer.