A Fatal Inheritance: How a Family Misfortune Revealed a Deadly Medical Mystery by Lawrence Ingrassia
Summary: Mingling medical research, memories, and melancholy, journalist Ingrassia shares the tragic stories of families cursed with and devastated by cancer. In his own family, his mother, brother, two sisters, and a nephew died (most at a young age) from malignancies. Ingrassia recounts the dueling fortitude and fatalism that grips those struck by these hereditary cancer syndromes. He reports on the medical detective work conducted by physicians and scientists to track down the cause. In the hereditary cancer profiled here, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, the problem is the p53 gene, a gene responsible for a protein that prevents damaged cells from becoming cancerous. But the gene sometimes mutates and loses its ability to control altered cells that then become malignant. Sadly, the mutated p53 gene can be passed on to offspring. While genetic testing is available, no curative treatment for the mutation presently exists. Frequent and extensive screenings for the detection of possible tumors are recommended so early intervention can be initiated. This is an emotionally charged narrative about genetic proneness to cancer, the promise of scientific discovery, hope, loss, grief, and, especially, familial love. (Booklist)
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., 2024
ISBN: 9781250837226
Physical Description: 320 pages