Genetics and the common cancers.
Rare highly penetrant genes cannot account for much of the familial risk for most common cancers, and there is increasing evidence that a high proportion of cancers arise in a susceptible minority who carry low-penetrance genes or gene combinations. The evidence for the existence of such genes and the prospects for identifying them are reviewed.
Peto
J
J
Section of Epidemiology, Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5NG, UK. j.peto@icr.ac.uk
Houlston
R S
RS
D005260:Female; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D009386:Neoplastic Syndromes, Hereditary / Q000235:genetics; D019683:Penetrance