How is Lynch syndrome inherited?

Lynch syndrome follows a dominant inheritance pattern. This means that having one faulty copy of any MMR gene (i.e., MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2 and EPCAM) can result in an increased risk of cancer.

Everyone has 2 copies of each gene in their body’s cells:

• 1 copy comes from our father
• 1 copy comes from our mother

A parent with a faulty gene(s) has a 50% chance of passing down their faulty gene(s) to their children. A child, sibling or parent of a family member with a faulty gene(s) has a 50% chance of also inheriting the same faulty gene(s). Extended relatives may also inherit the faulty gene(s).