RT Book, Section
A1 Aplan, Peter D.
A1 Plon, Sharon E.
A2 Kline, Mark W.
SR Print(0)
ID 1182910801
T1 Cancer Genetics and Biology
T2 Rudolph's Pediatrics, 23e
YR 2018
FD 2018
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781259588594
LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1182910801
RD 2024/04/19
AB The  statement  “cancer  is  a  genetic  disease”  is  true  from  2  overlapping  perspectives.  First,  analysis  of  the  genome  of  a  cancer  cell  almost  always  reveals  specific  acquired  changes  (point  mutations,  rearrangements,  or  amplifications)  that  play  a  fundamental  role  in  transforming  a  normal  cell  into  a  cancer  cell.  As  described  in  this  chapter,  knowledge  of  these  changes  has  substantially  improved  our  ability  to  treat  and  often  cure  childhood  cancer.  Second,  in  approximately  10%  of  childhood  cancer  patients,  the  child  was  born  with  a  genetic  change  that  substantially  increased  the  risk  of  cancer  developing.  Identifying  these  at-risk  children  and  families  allows  us  to  implement  cancer  surveillance  at  an  early  age  in  an  attempt  to  identify  the  cancer  at  a  stage  that  is  more  curable  and  where  therapy  may  be  less  toxic.  In  some  rare,  particularly  high-risk  conditions,  prophylactic  surgery  may  be  recommended  to  prevent  cancer  from  developing.