Just over five years ago my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer. It was treated successfully with only a few minor setbacks in the way of open wounds and infections. After various other tests brought about, I think, by his brother getting cancer at a similar age it turns out he has a gene defect in his third chromosome; the defect, known as MLH1, gives rise to ‘hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer‘ (HNPCC). People with this gene defect have about an 80% chance of getting colorectal cancer at some point in their life – usually between the ages of 40 and 60 depending on the actual type of cancer.
May 102011