Oncogenes need to be alerted when

A family member with cancer may be considered to have a genetic (hereditary) background if he or she has: 1) developed cancer at a young age; 2) developed multiple primary cancers in a single individual; 3) developed cancer in pairs of organs or multifocal cancers; 4) developed the same type of cancer in more than one person in the family; 5) cancer occurs in the family (in an autosomal dominant manner) over multiple generations; 6) developed certain specific tumors (e.g., retinoblastoma, adrenocortical carcinoma, or duodenal Unusual cancers (e.g., male breast cancer); 8. Tumors of rare histologic types; 9. Cancers associated with birth defects (e.g., nephroblastoma); and 10. Tumors associated with geography or ethnicity.