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"Expanding Genetic Testing for Prostate Cancer Could Improve Patient Management" - Marilynn Larkin

  • MD Alert
  • New York, NY
  • (February 15, 2019)

Expanding genetic testing beyond current guidelines could better stratify prostate cancer patients for the presence of pathogenic variants and improve their medical management, researchers say. An assessment of self-reported family histories revealed that 37 percent of men with positive variants would not have qualified for genetic testing per the National Comprehensive Cancer Network genetic/familial breast and ovarian guidelines for patients with prostate cancer. Alberto Martini, MD, clinical fellow in the department of urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who was not involved in the research, said the study confirms, “Previous results regarding the most common germline mutated genes in prostate cancer, and appropriately points out some consistencies among the current guidelines."  Dr. Martini added, “There was some concern either in the clinical or familial history that led the treating physician to order these tests. Thus, it is not unlikely that the actual frequencies of these mutations would be lower in the general population."

— Alberto Martini, MD, Clinical Fellow, Department of Urology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

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