Cowden Syndrome

How is CS inherited?

Cowden syndrome follows a dominant inheritance pattern. This means that having one copy of a faulty PTEN gene will result in the diagnosis of CS and an increased risk of tumours/cancer. It affects both males and females.

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).