Is the cancer in your family inherited? Some families experience large amounts of cancer and whether it is environmental, every day living habits, or genetics are all factors that should be looked into. Genetic testing, usually performed with a blood sample, may provide information about you and an increased risk for cancer because of family genetics.

For instance, nearly everyone born with familial adenomatous polyposis (the genetic predisposition to colon cancer) develops the disease by age 40 if preventive surgery isn't done. Knowing this early can aid in prevention and early detection. Talk with your doctor about genetic counseling. A Genetic Counselor provides individuals and families with information on the nature, inheritance, and implications of genetic disorders to help them make informed medical and personal decisions. Genetic counselors often work in clinics with oncologists or gastroenterologists and focus on cancer risk.

John Hopkins Medical Institution investigators had a small but informative clinical trial using a pill that contained chemicals found in turmeric, a spice used in curries, and quercetin, an antioxidant in onions. The trial showed that the pill reduced both the size and number of precancerous lesions in the intestinal tract.

Curcumin is the chemical found in turmeric and is the key agent in the pill that the patients were administered. The amount of quercetin was similar to what normal people might consume on a daily basis. The curcumin administered in the pill was many times more what a person might eat in their daily diet.

A disorder that runs in families called familial adenomatous polyposis can lead to hundreds of colorectal polyps that could eventually lead to colon cancer.

The study showed that the patients taking the pill had an average number of polyps drop by sixty percent and the average size dropped to a little over fifty percent.

The current nonsteroidal anti-inflammory drugs (NSAIDS) have been used to treat patients but can cause significant side effects where the pill in this study had minimal if no side effects at all.