02/16/2019
What is genetic cancer testing?
Genetic testing helps estimate your chance of developing cancer in your lifetime. It does this by searching for specific changes in your genes, chromosomes, or proteins. These changes are called mutations.
Genetic tests are available for some types of cancer. These include:
Breast cancer
Ovarian cancer
Colon cancer
Thyroid cancer
Prostate cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Melanoma
Sarcoma
Kidney cancer
Stomach cancer
Genetic testing may help:
Predict your risk of a particular disease
Find if you have genes that may pass increased cancer risk to your children
Provide information to guide your health care
No genetic test can say if you will develop cancer for sure. But it can tell you if you have a higher risk than most people.
