Abstract

All cancers develop as a result of mutations in certain genes, such as those involved in the regulation of cell growth and/or DNA repair, 1,2 but not all of these mutations are inherited from a parent.For example, sporadic mutations can occur in somatic/ tumor cells only, and de novo mutations can occur for the first time in a germ cell (i.e., egg or sperm) or in the fertilized egg itself during early embryogen-