Familial Cancer Testing involves testing patients with a family history of malignancy to determine whether they are at increased risk of malignancy due to inherited familial genetic variants (mutations).
Well-known familial cancer syndromes include Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) syndrome and Lynch syndrome.
A proportion of individuals with a family history of cancer may be at increased risk of malignancy through the inheritance of genetic variants (mutations) in certain genes. Testing for these genetic variants is important as it can determine risk or make a diagnosis, and may also suggest an appropriate prevention, surveillance, or treatment strategy.
In HBOC, there are a number of high and moderate risk genes which have been demonstrated to increase risk of breast and/or ovarian cancer.
Familial cancer testing may also be important in the area of colorectal cancer, with Lynch syndrome and Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP) being the most well known examples of hereditary colorectal cancer syndromes.
Bulk-billing for some familial cancer syndromes is available under certain conditions. For patients who do not meet MBS criteria, Genomic Diagnostics endeavours to bring you quality testing at an affordable price.
Source: Genomic Diagnostics