Can a man pass cancer on to his future children?

Many men come to us with questions of, “Hey, you know I’ve had this diagnosis of cancer, am I going to pass this cancer on to my offspring?” And it’s a very important question, and it’s an insightful question. Certainly there are some cancers that run in families and that can be passed on from parent to offspring. The good news is that most cancers don’t seem to be transmitted in specifically that way, at least based on our knowledge here in the early 2000s. There are a number of environmental factors and other issues that probably come into play that determine whether an individual will develop cancer or not. So we really try to reassure patients that in terms of their passing cancer along to an offspring, while it’s a potential risk, in most instances it does not seem to be the pattern that is typically followed by Mother Nature.