Pancreatic cancer is relatively uncommon, with a lifetime risk of ~1.5% for individuals in the United States. For the majority of pancreatic cancers, the cause is unknown and there is no known family history of the disease. In these circumstances, a cancer is...
A dermatologist’s misdiagnosis of a patient with Lynch syndrome, a type of inherited cancer predisposition syndrome, led to unnecessary colonoscopies and healthcare expenses. The patient had multiple skin tumors, one of which was genetically tested, revealing...
Last Updated June 15, 2022 True or false? Men don’t need genetic testing since only women can have a hereditary risk to develop cancer. Answer: FALSE. The notion that men cannot have hereditary cancer mutations that put them at increased risk to develop cancer is just...
Errors in genetic testing are unfortunately commonplace. One of the most common genetic testing errors involves recognizing that genetic testing is appropriate but ordering the wrong test. For instance, people who have a personal and/or family history suggestive of...
The vast majority of people diagnosed with colon cancer are over the age of 50. In fact, the average age of colon cancer diagnoses in the United States is 68 for men and 72 for women. However, colon cancer can and does occur in people in their teens, 20s, 30s, and...
