Who Should Undergo Hereditary Genetic Testing for Cancer?

One of the biggest issues surrounding hereditary cancers is that patients need to be more aware that genetic testing is valuable, whether it’s through blood or saliva tests. Beyond patients, practitioners also need to have a greater awareness of these tests, according to John Henson, MD.

One example Henson gave details a patient who unfortunately has passed away with pancreatic cancer, and explains that all of their first-degree relatives should receive hereditary genetic testing with either a blood or saliva test to identify any genes that may be associated with increased pancreatic cancer risk. Ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer were other examples of disease states for which the relatives of patients diagnosed should get tested. One final example was that patients under 50 years old who are diagnosed with triple-negative or HER2-negative breast cancer need to undergo hereditary genetic testing.

Henson, the director of the Hereditary Brain Tumor Clinic and the Brain Tumor Program at Georgia Cancer Center, spoke with CancerNetwork® during a visit to Georgia Cancer Center.

Transcript:

CancerNetwork: What ongoing research aims to further improve detection and/or intervention strategies for patients with hereditary cancers?

One of the largest issues around this subject is getting patients to be aware that genetic testing is valuable. We also have a bit more work to do with getting the practitioners to understand that as well, although we have made enormous strides in the last 10 to 15 years. An example of that is that [for] any individuals who have had a relative, for example, who has had pancreatic cancer and died from it, which is unfortunately [quite] common with pancreatic cancer, all first-degree relatives need to undergo hereditary genetic testing with typically a blood or saliva test to look for the genes that can help us understand the risk of additional family members coming down with pancreatic cancer. That’s not widely known, and we spend a lot of time trying to educate on a public level…about, in particular, pancreatic cancer.

[T]he same thing applies to ovarian cancer. All family members of a woman who develops ovarian cancer, if the woman herself is not tested, all first-degree relatives need to be tested. Endometrial cancer is the same thing. Then, for example, with breast cancer, if a patient has a triple-negative/HER2-negative onset at age 50 or younger, the patient needs to be tested. If that does not occur, then the first-degree relatives need to be tested. These are concepts for which we haven’t been successful enough at moving the information into the public domain; we’re doing much better with the doctors.