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News
When cancer patients with BRCA1/2 variants get personalized navigation support, their relatives are far more likely to get tested too. A new study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that facilitated cascade genetic testing raised testing uptake among first-degree relatives to 73% at 6 months — compared to just 51% with standard care. Nearly half of those tested were found to carry a pathogenic variant.
Simply telling relatives they may be at risk for hereditary cancer isn't enough — they need a guide. A randomized study from MD Anderson Cancer Center, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found that personalized navigation support significantly boosted genetic testing rates among first-degree relatives of newly diagnosed BRCA1/2 carriers, compared to standard care.
The trial enrolled 151 cancer patients (probands) with newly identified BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants, whose relatives were then either offered facilitated cascade genetic testing (CGT) or standard care. The results were striking: relatives in the supported group completed testing faster and at much higher rates.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: Identifying hereditary cancer risk in families opens the door to earlier screening, prevention, and intervention — potentially saving lives before cancer ever develops.
