Cancer Genetics

Genetic information provides a means of identifying people who have an increased risk of cancer. Sources of genetic information include biologic samples of DNA, information derived from a person’s family history of disease, findings from physical examinations, and medical records. DNA-based information can be gathered, stored, and analyzed at any time during an individual’s life span, from before conception to after death. Family history may identify people with a modest to moderately increased risk of cancer or may serve as the first step in the identification of an inherited cancer predisposition that confers a very high lifetime risk of cancer.

For an increasing number of diseases, DNA-based testing can be used to identify a specific pathogenic variant as the cause of inherited risk and to determine whether family members have inherited the disease-related variant.

Knowledge about a cancer-predisposing variant can be informative not only for the individual tested but also for other family members. It is always necessary to speak to the Oncologist and a Genetic Counsellor before and after undergoing any genetic testing.