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Carcinoid Patients & Kids at Higher Risk For Cancer?

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Last Modified: September 23, 2011

Dear OncoLink "Ask The Experts,"

Are carcinoid patients at higher risk for other cancers? Are children of carcinoid patients more likely to develop the disease?

Weijing Sun, MD, Medical Oncologist at Penn Medicine, responds:

Not necessarily. For patients with a genetic mutation (such as MEN I), then yes, they have increased risks as well as their children. However, most cases of carcinoid are "sporadic", meaning there is no family or genetic link. While experts have shown that most cancers involve some genetic abnormality to develop- these abnormalities develop over your lifetime and are not inherited or passed on to your children.

This question and answer was part of the OncoLink Brown Bag Chat Series. View the entire Focus on Neuroendocrine Tumors Webchat transcript.