According to preliminary findings from a survey led by Rogel researcher Steven Katz, M.D., MPH, a professor of health management and policy, the ability to fully realize genetic testing among family members of patients is mitigated by several factors.
There's no better time to talk about your family's health history than when your loved ones are sitting around the table together. Family history, after all, is one of the main factors used to determine an individual's risk for developing diseases, including cancer. Many patients do not know that they are at risk before talking with a family member.
Germline genetic testing, in which inherited DNA is sequenced, is recommended for patients diagnosed with cancer to enable genetically targeted treatment and identify additional relatives who can benefit from personalized cancer screening and prevention. Not enough people are getting genetic testing for cancer, according to recent research.
When Cathleen Argyle learned she had breast cancer, she and her mother -- also a breast cancer survivor -- decided to undergo genetic testing. The results of Cathleen's test were positive: she had a mutation that increased her risk for cancer. But, the mutation didn't come from her mother. It came from her father.
A $1.4 million grant from the American Cancer Society will allow a team of researchers led by the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center to survey a diverse group of breast cancer patients and their relatives about their experience with genetic testing and their understanding of hereditary cancer risk and prevention.
A team of researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer has been awarded $4 million from the National Cancer Institute as part of its Cancer Moonshot program. The grant will fund efforts to increase rates of genetic testing among cancer patients who have family histories concerning for hereditary cancer syndromes.
Breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer survivors should be offered genetic counseling and genetic testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations, according to new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
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