Hereditary cancer

Fergus Couch, Ph.D., chair of Mayo Clinic’s Division of Experimental Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, led a team that recently published new National Institutes of Health and U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved guidelines for the interpretation of variants in the ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) cancer gene. Inherited mutations in ATM have been shown to increase the risk of breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancers. Now published by the American Journal of Human Genetics and available for widespread use, Dr. Couch says the guidelines can help clinicians around the world apply the same consistent method of classification to ATM variants.

Megan Hoenig, M.S., M.P.H., CGC, explains how Mayo Clinic Laboratories' unique hypermethylation analysis (Mayo ID: MLHPB) provides critical adjunct information for managing Lynch syndrome. That genetic condition increases the risk for many kinds of cancer.

PACE/State of FL - The latest ASCO guidelines for selection of germline genetic testing panels for cancer patients.

Wei Shen, Ph.D., explains Mayo Clinic Laboratories' new expert-backed, hereditary oncology panels, which use next-generation sequencing to identify genetic mutations linked to increased cancer risk. By only including clinically significant genes, the panels provide clarity on diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment approaches.

In this episode of Lab Medicine Rounds, Sounak Gupta, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., assistant professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic, discusses hereditary oncology and the importance of performing molecular testing of solid tumors.