Is lung cancer genetic?

[Ina3]

Trying to find out if Lung cancer is genetic and if there is any genetic testing?

My dad just passed away from NCSLC 😢 and found out few other close relatives had the same.

[Denzie Moderator Volunteer]

Lung cancer is not genetically transmitted the way breast cancer is with BRCA1/2 or Lynch Syndrome in colorectal cancer. There may be a genetic predisposition to getting cancer but that doesn’t mean you will develop it. Only about 25% of those who carry the BRCA1/2 gene develop breast or ovarian cancer.

Only about 10% of all cancers are genetically inherited. If you are concerned that you may be genetically predisposed to cancer contact a genetic counselor. It will help set your mind at ease.

[JanetteR57]

Sorry for your loss. As Denzie has responded, there is little evidence at the moment that many lung cancers are hereditary - it was previously assumed that it was the lifestyle factors that may predispose family members to lung cancers such as smoking, working in smoky environments such as mining, asbestos, foundries etc but there have been a few cases where a genetic link has been found in recent times. When I was diagnosed in 2011 there was less than 5% of all cancer research invested in lung cancer so little was known about it in the way it was for other cancers such as breast who have seriously invested billions of dollars for decades into learning more. However in the last few years due to the late detection of lung cancer for many leading to worse outcomes than if found sooner, more has been invested globally resulting in a plethora of new treatments, changes to different treatment regimes as more detail has been discovered about the biological responses of certain markers/drivers in certain lung tumours so more is being found all the time. Improvements in technology and lower cost allowing greater genome panel testing to find the most appropriate treatments has shown a much greater variance between lung cancers than ever imagined but at the moment, very few seem attributable to genetics but not ruled out. I was curious too as my dad had bowel cancer in his 50s (never smoked, light drinker, never overweight) and I was 52 when diagnosed with lung cancer (never smoked) but as at the time the only test done was for EGFR mutation which I didn't have, I still haven't seen a copy of my pathology report and know the testing 9 years ago was far less detailed than today. The genome panel testing done to determine the right treatment as a result of biopsies may show some similarities but genetic testing that you're suggesting like 21&me type tests aren't reliable - the lung matrix trial in the UK is the largest stratified lung cancer trial and developed a gene panel with Illumina for the most common types of testing to find markers/drivers for which treatments have been developed to date. Unsure how this works in other countries.... but think almost all countries now test for certain known lung mutations as standard for EGFR, ALK, ROS1, and protein PDL1 for immunotherapy. hope this helps.

[lovey100 in reply to JanetteR57]

Have you heard of a blood test that is a liquid biopsy? It’s called Guardant360.

[JanetteR57 in reply to lovey100]

yes - liquid biopsy is used in the UK too - unsure if it's called the same thing and works on the principle that circulating tissue cells may be present in the blood and therefore far less invasive than a biopsy from other routes. however it appears that it works best when tumours are more advanced and less effective for early stage disease when the tumour is less likely to shed cells... biopsies are used for a variety of tests including staging and type... the lung matrix trial I mentioned in the UK initially started off with tissue from resected patients but quickly moved to using whatever 'left over' tissue there was from normally extracted biopsies to show how a trial may work using standard NHS tests for something as important as lung cancer.