A new genetic test jointly developed by the Institute of Cancer Research and an American genetics company Illumina, can help determine the possibilities of a cancer patient passing on the risk to other family member.
The new genetic testing will help in determining if family members of cancer patients are at any risk of inheriting mutated genes, which elevate the risk of getting cancer. The new test is undergoing a human trial within the Royal Marsden Foundation Trust. The test will check details for any mutations that are linked to cancer in 97 genes. Once it completes the trial, which is likely to happen next year, the test will be available to all National Health Service patients.
As part of a three year trial, the test is currently being performed on women with ovarian and breast cancer. Doctors say this test can open new ways of identifying cancer in early stages and offer personalized treatments to stop the advancement of the disease.
Professor Nazneen Rahman, the institute's head of genetics, says that the NHS and the Health Department have been fully supportive of the program, according to a report in Mail Online. She stresses that it is "very important to know if a mutation in a person's genetic blueprint has caused their cancer. This offers personalized treatment which will help fight the disease with better treatments."
"It also improves the information available for relatives about their own cancer risks," Professor Rahman added. "Sometimes a relative is found to also have an increased risk of cancer, and screening or preventative measures can be employed."
Rahman also emphasized on the need of this new genetic testing to be a part of a routine check as the current NHS genetic testing is limited.
Patients are often keen to know more about the genetic information of their disease, which can be answered now with the new genetic testing.
"There is no point in pretending that patients do not want to know and be hidden from what we might find out," says Professor Martin Gore, medical director of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. "The whole thing can be done in a much more systematized, efficient and kinder way for the patient."
Professor Gore agrees that this program will give patients and families more information about their disease so early treatments can be started.
