Why can someone with a strong immune system and no family history of a certain kind of cancer get cancer? What causes those gene mutations?

Question

For example, I know a 23 year old with an acute form of leukemia. No family history of leukemia. She did all the right things and had a very strong immune system until she got leukemia, she wouldn’t even get colds. So we’re all confused. She also doesn’t and never has lived near any places with high radiation, she’s only had x-rays done at the dentist, and her jobs haven’t exposed her to any carcinogens.

Answer 1

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Cancer is made of your own cells that have picked up mistakes, so your immune system doesn't have a whole lot to do with whether or not you get cancer.

Mutations happen constantly, randomly, all the time. You can inherit mutations from your parents that make it more likely that you will get cancer in your lifetime. Generally speaking, these mutations are concentrated in genes that are responsible for DNA repair. If you're unable to repair your DNA properly, you're more likely to pick up and keep a mutation that will lead to cancer.

Answer 2

There's no such thing as a "strong immune-system" in the sense that you can express it in a skalar.

Cancers can be caused by chemicals or radiation

people can become sick because both parents passed on the same faulty allele they both are carriers of