Genetic Testing

Afirma test for thyroid nodules: ACEG – pro

The majority of FNAs of tyroid nodules show benign histological findings but some are indeterminate or non-diagnostic. In an attempt to separate out patients with a worse prognosis, Afirma has develoiped a proprietory tests, Benign Gene Expression Classifier.  In 2010, two modest-sized validation studies showed that the AGEC test could identify a benign gene expression signature in indeterminate cytology thyroid FNA samples with a negative predictive

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FAP and AFAP testing: Genetic colon cancer

A small proportion of colon and rectal cancers arise in individuals who have genetic mutations. Familial Adenomatous Polyposis(FAP) and AFAP are autosomal dominant disorders with 50% risk of inheritance and about 75–80% of individuals with these conditions have an affected parent. Autosomal dominant inheritance means that an offspring of an affected individual has a 50% risk of inheriting the altered APC gene. Adenomas develop in approximately

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What is “Genetic Testing”?

A genetic test is “the analysis of human DNA, RNA, chromosomes, proteins, and certain metabolites in order to detect heritable disease-related genotypes, mutations, phenotypes, or karyotypes for clinical purposes (Holtzman et al)". NCI defines it as : "Analyzing DNA to look for a genetic alteration that may indicate an increased risk for developing a specific disease or disorder." Tests used for diagnostic purposes in oncology often look at genetic

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