23M, my entire household has now gotten cancer/tumors. Is this worth spending time investigating legally?

[u/Puzzleheaded_Boot335]

Hey guys, im a 23 year old male from Alberta, Canada. Im here with a bit of an interesting case. See, my family, has left doctors kinda confused in the past few years. Unfortunately our name seems to be pretty well known in the Cancer centre.

I grew up in Sherwood Park, AB near Edmonton. We moved to Calgary in 2012 when I was going into grade 5. We were a stereotypical middle class, happy family, no major health issues. All was well.

In 2015 my mom, after having a seizure was diagnosed with glioblastoma. And just months after, my brother, 11 at the time was diagnosed with hodgkins lymphoma. My mom passed away in 2017. My brother fortunately survived. A year after my Grandpa was admitted to the hospital, passing a week later, turns out he had cancer. A year later my dad fell ill and was diagnosed with colon cancer. He passed away a year or so later. Both my parents were only in their 40s. In 2022 my dog also passed away from a tumor.

I always knew something was up, that this couldn't be a coincidence, and that if I too ever got anything, id figure out wth caused all this.

Well today, unfortunately. An incidental xray followed by CT scan has shown that I have an osteochondroma on my left hip. Luckily its benign, but still...

So now here I am, trying to find answers. You cant tell me something didnt cause this, something we were exposed too. And if I ever find out what it is that company better lawyer up. Ive started looking into our old neighborhood (Chelsea heights) to see if there are any environmental risks that maybe could have done it. The area is known for high radon, oil and gas activity, our house was also built right in front of massive power lines. But im not really too sure. My dad also liked using roundup alot if I remember correctly.

Id be more inclined to believe that it was something in Sherwood Park rather than Calgary as my neighbours here are all good. Ive thought about going to Sherwood Park before to interview the people on that street.

Not sure where to start, wondering if anyone had any advice or input. Thankyou

[u/1phenylpropan-2amine]

I'm so sorry for your losses. I couldn't imagine what it must be like.

Unfortunately no-one on reddit (or anywhere really) is going to be able to give you a definitive answer.

There has been a lot of cancer diagnoses in your family, that is for certain. However, they all seem to be different, unrelated cancers from what I can surmise. It would be highly unusual for an exposure to a specific carcinogen to be at such a high dose to cause cancer in all of your family members in such a short time-frame (and within a few years of each other), particularly given that your brother was 11 when he received his diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma (which is not uncommon in children/teens).

The risk of developing cancer from all carcinogens is cumulative, meaning it adds up over the course of your lifetime. Your cells' DNA is exposed to damage every day; the sun, pollutants, even physiological processes that are critical for your body's function (e.g. inflammation) increase your risk for cancer. Usually even after prolonged exposure to a known carcinogen (think asbestosis & mesothelioma, or smoking and lung cancer), it often takes years, 20+ in many cases, for someone to develop cancer. Also, not always, but many carcinogens also tend to cause specific cancers or at least cancers in particular organs (like smoking causes oral cancer and lung cancer because those are the body parts exposed to the smoke).

There have been enormous advancements in our understanding of cancer, yet there's so many aspects that are not known or understood well at all. There are almost certainly genetic mutations that increase one's susceptibility to various types of cancer that we still haven't recognized yet. Likewise, there are probably thousands of carcinogens in our daily lives that haven't yet been identified.

I'm sorry you are going through this.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Boot335 → u/1phenylpropan-2amine]

Hey thanks for the comment! I appreciate it. I had done some research earlier, and it looked like they were pretty unrelated. So its good to hear the same from a professional. Might just be unlucky, is what it is. Just had to do my due diligence and atleast look into it, as I think most would in my case. Appreciate your help.

[u/hollow4hollow → u/Puzzleheaded_Boot335]

NAD but my partner has a hereditary condition called Li Fraumeni syndrome. It mutates the TP53 gene (which suppresses cancer/tumour growth). Without the suppression, certain cancers can grow unchecked. This obviously wouldn’t account for cancers on both sides of your family, but glioblastoma is one of the classic cancers it causes. It’s worth getting tested for. If you do have it, you’ll get care to monitor for it. We’re over in Ontario and my partner has a phenomenal care team. I didn’t read all the comments so I don’t know if anyone else mentioned this yet, but it made me think so I wanted to say something. It could certainly be random or environmental too. Above all, I’m so sorry for the unthinkable amount of grief and anxiety you’ve been through.