Medicine: Deadly Legacy

Genetic flaw signals cancer

Some families seem to be lightning rods for cancer. Malignant tumors of the breast, colon and other organs appear in family members with distressing frequency through the generations. Though these families can be identified, there has been no way to predict which individuals will develop cancer and thus no way to assure that their cancers will be detected early and treated. But now, for one such family, all that is changed. At Boston's Beth Israel Hospital, doctors for the first time have discovered an inherited chromosomal defect that seems to...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!