Is Benign schwannoma inherited ?
Are schwannomas inherited? Most schwannomas are not inherited. The vast majority of schwannomas occur by chance (sporadically) and as a single tumor. In these cases, people typically do not have affected family members. Around 5-10% of people develop multiple schwannomas. In these cases, the schwannomas may be due to an inherited condition which can be passed from parent to child. For example, neurofibromatosis type 2 and schwannomatosis are two conditions known to cause multiple schwannomas. Both of these conditions are inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. This means that to be affected, a person only needs a change (mutation) in one copy of the responsible gene in each cell. In some cases, an affected person inherits the mutation from an affected parent. Other cases may result from new (de novo) mutations in the gene. These cases occur in people with no history of the disorder in their family. A person with neurofibromatosis type 2 or schwannomatosis has a 50% chance with each pregnancy of passing along the altered gene to his or her child.