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Types of Hereditary Cancers

Learn about the mutations associated with different types of cancer. Stay up to date by signing up for our community newsletter.

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Cancers May Be Caused by Inherited Mutations

Cancers caused by an are called hereditary cancers. The remaining cancers - those not caused by an - are called sporadic cancers. Most cancers are sporadic, but overall, about 10-20% of all cancers are believed to be caused by an .

Some cancer types and associated inherited mutations are listed in the table below; note that this is not a complete list.

Cancer Type	Genes Associated with This Cancer
Breast (in women and people assigned female at birth)	ATM, BARD1, BRCA1, BRCA2, CDH1, CHEK2, NF1, PALB2, PTEN, RAD51C, RAD51D, STK11, TP53
Breast (in men and people assigned male at birth)	BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, PALB2
Colorectal	APC, ATM*, BMPR1A, EPCAM, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, MUTYH, PMS2, POLD1, POLE, PTEN, SMAD4, STK11, TP53
Endometrial	EPCAM, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, MUTYH, PMS2, PTEN, STK11, BRCA1, BRCA2*
Fallopian tube, ovarian and primary peritoneal	ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, BRIP1, EPCAM, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PALB2, PMS2*, PTEN, RAD51C, RAD51D
Gastric	APC, CDH1, EPCAM, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, MUTYH*, STK11
Melanoma	ACD, BAP1 (melanoma and uveal melanoma), BRCA1, BRCA2, CDKN2A, CDK4, MC1R, MBD4 (uveal melanoma), MITF, PALB2 (uveal), POT1, PTEN, RB1, TERF2IP, TERT, TP53, XP genes
Pancreatic exocrine	ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, CDKN2A, EPCAM, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PALB2, STK11, TP53
Pancreatic neuroendocrine	CDKN1B, MEN1, NF1, TET, VHL
Prostate	ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, EPCAM, HOXB13, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, TP53
Thyroid	RET (medullary thyroid cancer); APC, FOXE1, HABP2, PTEN
More research is needed to learn the risk for people with mutations in this gene. *Uterine serous carcinoma is a rare type of endometrial cancer that has been linked to BRCA1 and and BRCA2 mutations. Because this cancer type is rare even in mutation carriers, the overall risk for endometrial cancer with BRCA1 and BRCA2 is not considered high. Researchers continue to study the link between inherited mutations and endometrial cancer.