Hereditary cancer risk assessment: insights and perspectives for the Next-Generation Sequencing era

Abstract Hereditary cancer risk assessment is a multidisciplinary and dynamic process, with the purpose of estimating probabilities of germline mutations in cancer susceptibility genes and assessing empiric risks of cancer based on personal and family histories, in order to offer clinical and molecu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Israel Gomy, Maria Del Pilar Estevez Diz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Genética 2016-01-01
Series:Genetics and Molecular Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1415-47572016005001102&lng=en&tlng=en
Description
Summary:Abstract Hereditary cancer risk assessment is a multidisciplinary and dynamic process, with the purpose of estimating probabilities of germline mutations in cancer susceptibility genes and assessing empiric risks of cancer based on personal and family histories, in order to offer clinical and molecular diagnoses and clinical management based on these risks. Genetic tests are available and most of them are reimbursed by insurance companies, although they are generally not covered by the public health systems of developing countries. More recently, molecular diagnosis of hereditary cancer is feasible through next-generation sequencing (NGS) panels. Here we review the benefits and limitations of NGS technologies in the clinical practice.
ISSN:1678-4685