[RoyalPrincessP]

Can it run in your family like other cancers?Or is that a myth? Specifically Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

[quijibored]

NHL is not genetic but some families do have a slight predisposition to develop various types of NHL (usually not the same exact disease). This might be due to living together in the same area where there is environmental or radiation pollution and has nothing to do with genetics. There is no direct link like if your mother had NHL then your chances of developing NHL are 10%. Also, some types of NHL put a person at risk for developing second types of NHL that are of differing type and aggressiveness. Whatever immune defect causes the first NHL can also tend to cause a second type of NHL in the same person. There is a lot that is not yet known about specific causes for NHL. Much of today's info about cause of NHL is just speculation and not proven facts.

[wlitan]

There may be a genetic aspect to lymphoma.Cancer, including non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL) usually involves defects in more than one critical gene, including defects that activate cancer-causing genes (oncogenes) like TCL1 and defects that inactivate cancer-preventing genes (tumor suppressors).The defects in one gene (TCL1) can cause particular types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, B-NHL, but these lymphomas only arise when the TCL1 abnormalities are accompanied by companion genetic defects.There is a familial form of NHL which is associated with somatic mutations in a number of genes, including CASP10 , ATM, RAD54L, BRAF, and perforin-1 (PRF1).Hope this helps.

I don't know how likely it is, but I know of a father in my community who battled Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and then a couple years later his adult son battled Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. There's a genetic link there.