Study outlines the reasons to test pediatric cancer patients for inherited genes
Because cancers in children are rare, many details about their biology remain unknown. In the field of cancer genetics, there s a limited understanding of how inherited genetic changes may contribute to the formation and growth of tumors. Making connections between particular gene mutations and disease requires a lot of data, which until recently has been largely unavailable for pediatric cancers.
Now, tests like MSK-IMPACT
TM can screen tumors for mutations in more than 500 genes as well as analyze patients normal (germline) cells. In the largest study of its kind so far, researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering s pediatric program, MSK Kids, are reporting germline genomic sequencing details for 751 pediatric patients treated for solid tumors.