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dwight daigneault was healthy, physically active and at the gym five days a week when he was diagnosed.
“it was just too much fear over the unknown,” heide told cbc . “there was always the little bit of, ‘when is the ticking time bomb going to go off? when might i get the cancer?’”
hereditary diffuse gastric cancer syndrome, as heide’s family would learn, is the result of a mutation of the body’s cdhi gene. this mutation causes roughly one to three per cent of stomach cancers while elevating the risk of globular breast cancer. the “diffuse” nature of the disease means that the abnormal cells can grow by themselves or in small clusters making it difficult to diagnose until it is often too late.
the specific number of families with hdgc is unknown, according to cancer.net . the overall incidence of gastric cancer varies in different parts of the world. in the united states, it is estimated that less than one per cent of the population will develop stomach cancer of any kind; only a small fraction of these will be due to hdgc. the highest rates of gastric cancer in the world are in china, japan, and other countries in southeast asia, as well as in central and south america.
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dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca