Having been engaged in clinical and research work of leukemia for more than 20 years, I often get a question from patients’ families: Is leukemia hereditary?
Leukemia, commonly known as “blood cancer”, is a malignant tumor of the blood system with a high mortality rate.
The cause of leukemia is complex, with both internal and external causes, and is most likely due to a combination of factors. Four major factors are currently considered important: radiological factors; chemical factors; viral infections; and genetic factors.
Some scholars have investigated and analyzed families with leukemia and found that if one of the monozygotic twins has leukemia, the chance of the other one having leukemia increases about 5 times compared to the non-twin and 12 times higher than the incidence of dizygotic twins. This investigation report suggests that leukemia is genetically related. This scholar believes that leukemia occurs due to mutations in certain genetic material, the chromosomes, but it is not certain that leukemia will occur. There have been cases of leukemia occurring in successive family members, but the incidence is extremely low, so it should not be assumed that if one person in a family has leukemia, the rest of the family will also develop the disease.
Family leukemia is a disease in which two or more members of the same family have leukemia. Some statistics show that familial leukemia accounts for only 7 per 1,000 of the total cases of leukemia. It is thought that the incidence is higher in families with consanguineous marriages. Most scholars believe that chromosomal aberrations are mostly acquired (i.e., due to exogenous influences) rather than congenitally inherited. In summary, there is some connection between genetic factors and the development of leukemia, but leukemia is not a hereditary disease after all. Therefore, family members of leukemia patients need not worry about this, but take the following preventive measures to reduce the occurrence of leukemia and early diagnosis.
(1) Good lifestyle habits, no pickled foods, and strengthening physical exercise to enhance physical fitness and improve the body’s immunity and ability to resist disease are the most fundamental preventive measures.
(2) For long-term exposure to radioactive and ionizing radiation, or long-term exposure to toxic and chemical substances, do a good job of personal protection, and go to the hospital regularly for relevant examinations.
(3) Do not use drugs that affect blood cells, such as chloramphenicol and antipyretic drugs, indiscriminately when you are ill. Patients with solid tumors should be monitored regularly after chemotherapy.
(4) Avoid viral infections as much as possible and treat them promptly once they occur. (5) For patients with hereditary diseases, go to the hospital for examination as early as possible if there is discomfort.