The former version of the page was a computer generated compilation of every OMIM (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man) entry that contained the name of a cancer somewhere in the record.
The current version is a pared down list of about 230 conditions, that fall into one of three categories:
1. Familial cancer and neoplastic syndromes (i.e., affected individuals have an inherited predisposition to a particular set of neoplsms).
2. Mutations in the germ line (i.e., in every cell of the body), that predispose to neoplasia.
3. Inherited diseases or diseases with a heritable component that predispose to neoplasia.
The list is not limited to cancers, and includes benign tumors and hamartomas. The list is described in my book,
Neoplasms: Principles of Development and Diversity.
- © 2010 Jules J. Berman, Ph.D., M.D.
In June, 2014, my book, entitled Rare Diseases and Orphan Drugs: Keys to Understanding and Treating the Common Diseases was published by Elsevier. The book builds the argument that our best chance of curing the common diseases will come from studying and curing the rare diseases.
I urge you to read more about my book. There's a generous preview of the book at the Google Books site.
tags: common disease, orphan disease, orphan drugs, genetics of disease, disease genetics, rules of disease biology, rare disease, pathology, neoplasms, cancer
