Cancer Genetics Risk Assessment and Counseling (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version

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Changes to This Summary (05/16/2016)

The PDQ cancer information summaries are reviewed regularly and updated as new information becomes available. This section describes the latest changes made to this summary as of the date above.

Cancer Risk Assessment and Counseling

Added text to state that pretest genetic counseling is an important part of the risk assessment process and helps patients understand their genetic testing options and potential outcomes. Posttest genetic counseling helps patients understand their test results, including the medical implications for themselves and their relatives.

Added Botkin et al., American Society of Human Genetics, 2006 International Society of Nurses in Genetics, 2010 International Society of Nurses in Genetics, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and Oncology Nursing Society as references 6, 7, 8, 9, 13 and 15, respectively.

The Option of Genetic Testing

Added text to state that if testing is deferred while follow-up with an affected relative is pending, consider providing interim cancer risk management guidelines to the unaffected proband (cited Gustafson et al. as reference 4).

Revised text to state that, in rare instances, if proper authorization is secured from the family, testing the stored tissue of a deceased relative may be considered; however, genetic tests done on stored tissue are technically difficult and may not yield a definitive result. Therefore, testing an unaffected person without prior testing of an affected family member may be performed; in these circumstances, counseling includes discussing that a negative test result does not rule out the presence of a cancer susceptibility gene in the family or in the patient and may be uninformative.

The Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Tests subsection was comprehensively reviewed and extensively revised.

This summary is written and maintained by the PDQ Cancer Genetics Editorial Board, which is editorially independent of NCI. The summary reflects an independent review of the literature and does not represent a policy statement of NCI or NIH. More information about summary policies and the role of the PDQ Editorial Boards in maintaining the PDQ summaries can be found on the About This PDQ Summary and PDQ® - NCI's Comprehensive Cancer Database pages.

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