One in eight cancer patients has inherited genetic mutations, allowing for tailored treatments
- Genetic testing on cancer patients has uncovered previously hidden inherited cancer causing mutations
- This knowledge will help with targeted therapies as well as protect family members
Genetic testing can uncover inherited genetic mutations, and could individualise cancer therapies, improve survival, protect their loved ones and push the boundaries of precision medicine.
In a new study published in JAMA Oncology, scientists with Mayo Clinic’s Centre for Individualised Medicine conducted genetic testing on more than 3,000 patients who were diagnosed with cancer at Mayo Clinic Cancer Centre locations in the US states of Arizona, Florida and Minnesota. In all, the scientists found that one in eight patients with cancer had an inherited cancer-related gene mutation. This mutation would not have been detected in half of these patients using a standard guideline-based approach.
“We found that 13.5 per cent of patients had an inherited mutation in a gene associated with the development of their cancer,” says the study’s author Dr Niloy Jewel Samadder, a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist and hepatologist.
Samadder says uncovering these hidden inherited genetic mutations could lead to opportunities for cancer management in families and targeted cancer therapies that can save lives.