Who gets cancer?

Excerpt

We have looked for genetic differences influencing cancer risk in the general human population. One human chromosomal region that recent data indicate as important for cancer risk is 19q13.2-3, more specifically a 69 kb region including the genes XPD, RAI, ASE1 and ERCC1. We and others have produced evidence of association between this region and occurrence of a variety of cancers, including basal cell carcinoma, melanoma, lung cancer, glioma, breast cancer, bladder cancer, and possibly head and neck cancer (see for instance [1]). A recent search along the region for markers with maximal association to basal cell carcinoma has led to a focus on the gene RAI [2]. Moreover, the effect appears to be strongest among fairly young persons (<56 years of age). …