Some cancers are more strongly linked with genetics than others and ground-breaking new medical research has opened the door to understanding why and how to improve gene tests that can help identify patients most at risk.

In a study published in Nature Communications, scientists from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identified mutations in 114 inherited genes — tied to 12 cancer types — that affect cancer susceptibility, Medical News Today reports.

The findings provide a kind of master list of cancer genes that could be used to devise better genetic tests that could improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients, says researcher Li Ding, of the McDonnell Genome Institute at Washington.

The work is the first of its kind to differentiate between inherited gene mutations present at birth and those that have developed over time. To reach their conclusions, the researchers analyzed the tumors of 4,034 cancer patients representing 12 different types, including breast cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, stomach cancer, and acute myeloid leukemia.

They noted if a person possesses one copy of these mutated genes from one parent, a healthy copy from the other parent is able to compensate for it. But as these individuals age, they are at greater risk of developing mutations in the healthy copy of the gene, raising cancer risk.

The researchers also discovered that the well-known breast cancer genes, known as BRCA1 and BRCA2, are also linked to other cancers, including prostate cancer and stomach cancer.

"This suggests we should pay attention to the potential involvement of these two genes in other cancer types," says Ding.