What is a ‘cancer gene’? How genetic mutations lead to cancer

By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
John (Eddie) La Marca, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)

An estimated 170,000 Australians were diagnosed with cancer in 2025.

Many people know the causes of cancer are partly genetic. But how do your genes, which contribute so much of what makes you you, change what they do and cause a cancer?

Where do these “cancer genes” come from? And are they ticking time bombs?

Cancer is caused by DNA mutations

DNA is called the “instructions for life”, but what does it do? Your cells can…

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