Unlike many other cancers, mesothelioma is not hereditary. However, ongoing research is investigating genetic predispositions to the disease. Certain genes, which are hereditary, have been found to increase the likelihood that asbestos exposure will lead to mesothelioma. Mesothelioma sometimes appears hereditary because multiple family members will be contract the disease after being exposed to asbestos, or even exposed secondhand, as in the case of a child with a parent who is exposed as work.