Question: My uncle died of lukemia in the holidays and I was wondering is there a genetic transfer of lukemia genes? Thank you

Hi Millie. I’m really sorry to hear about your uncle. Although leukemia is caused by mutations in genes, these mutations usually occur during adulthood (called somatic mutations). Only mutations that occur during the production of sperm and eggs (called germline mutations) can be inherited. So it is very unlikely that there was any transfer of genes that cause leukemia between members of your family. Very few cancers show a strong inheritance pattern (breast and ovarian cancer are the two that I am most aware of).