I’m sorry that some of your family members have been affected by lung cancer. Under the circumstances I can understand you wondering if you are at risk of developing lung cancer in the future.
Probably the best thing to do first would be to talk things through with your GP. If they think there is anything to be concerned about they can refer you to a genetics, or family cancer clinic for further assessment.
Only a small number of cancers are caused by inherited faulty genes that significantly increase the risk of cancer. When these genes are in a family, usually several relatives on the same side of the family have the same type of cancer or cancers that develop at a younger than expected age.
Cancer is quite a common disease, 1 in 2 people develop it eventually, but mostly in old age. So having relatives with cancer in the family isn't unusual and doesn't necessarily mean your risk of developing cancer is a lot higher than average. This is quite a complicated topic and it might be useful to look at our section explaining genes and inherited cancer risk at this link.
There are lifestyle factors that we can all do to help reduce our risk of developing cancer which you can read about here.
I hope this is of some use. Please do get back to us if you have any more questions or give us a call us on 0808 800 4040. We are here from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
