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Cancer Genetic Appointments

During your appointment, a member of the team will confirm your family history/ family tree details with you and may ask about other medical conditions in your family (where known).

If a cancer genetic alteration (gene fault) exists in your family, or there is a possibility of an inherited genetic alteration, our team will discuss the condition and outline the choices and options available to you.

What is ‘Diagnostic Cancer Genetic Testing’?

Diagnostic cancer genetic testing is helpful when an individual with cancer is unaware of whether a gene alteration is present within their family. A blood test can be taken either from you or an eligible family member (i.e. the blood test must be taken from someone with cancer), to identify any alteration (gene fault) in your DNA. If a cancer gene alteration exists, it may be responsible for causing cancer in you, and/ or in other family members.

What is ‘Predictive Cancer Genetic Testing’?

If a cancer gene alteration is identified in your family, you may opt to undergo a predictive cancer genetic test to determine if you carry your family’s alteration, using a blood sample taken from you.

https://www.stjames.ie/cancer/yourtreatmentandcare/servicesandtreatments/cancergeneticappointments/

Cancer and Fatigue Go Together

Every cancer has different side effects depending on the type, which stage it is in, and the treatments given. But when 80/100% of the people report fatigue, we know this is an ongoing problem.

I hope I continue to find new research and training on this often overlooked and important side effect – perhaps the most devastating of all!

https://www.curetoday.com/view/cancer-and-fatigue-go-together

How I Truly Learned to Live With Stage 4 Colon Cancer

How do you live when you are constantly trying to figure out how not to die?

In the face of cancer, those who come before me have shown me how to live each day knowing it could very well be their last. It’s cliche, but it’s true.

None of us are given a timeline or know when we will no longer be a citizen of this world.

https://www.curetoday.com/view/how-i-truly-learned-to-live-with-stage-4-colon-cancer

Find Cancer Early

HSE’s Talking Health and Wellbeing podcast, Dr. Heather Burns discusses the importance of symptom awareness and early detection of cancer. Dr. Burns is a Consultant in Public Health Medicine and Public Health Lead for Early Detection of Cancer with the HSE National Cancer Control Programme. She notes that cancer is common in Ireland, with 1 in 2 people having a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime.

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-s2r93-15a9de0

Early treatment discontinuation in patients with deficient mismatch repair or microsatellite instability high metastatic colorectal cancer receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors

Background Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are recommended to treat patients with deficient mismatch repair/microsatellite instability high (dMMR/MSI-H) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Pivotal trials have fixed a maximum ICI duration of 2 years, without a compelling rationale. 

Conclusions In our international series of dMMR/MSI-H mCRC, early treatment discontinuation of ICIs in the absence of progressive disease can lead to similar long-term disease control compared with a longer treatment duration did not seem detrimental in terms of progression-free survival  and overall survival  compared with continuing treatment beyond 1 year. Randomized clinical trials to compare short and long treatment duration are now warranted.

https://jitc.bmj.com/content/13/1/e010424

GeNotes: Genomic notes for clinicians

GeNotes has been created collaboratively with experts across the NHS to provide practical information and support for fellow clinicians who need to access genomic testing for their patients. Find out more here:

https://buff.ly/4a5kPD0

Who should I tell if I have Lynch syndrome?

It is important to tell your parents, brothers and sisters and relatives about your diagnosis, as they have a 1 in 2 chance of having Lynch syndrome. Knowing if you or a family member has Lynch syndrome can help them to take steps to reduce their risk of developing cancer.

If you have children, they also have a 1 in 2 chance of developing Lynch syndrome. You will need to talk to them as well. Deciding how and when to have this conversation can be difficult. Talk to your children using language they understand and, in an age, appropriate way. Children are often more aware of adult worries than we expect. Being open with them can make them feel included and ease their worries.

In general, healthcare providers will not offer genetic testing to people who are under 18, unless there is a concern about childhood cancer.

If you don’t have children but you are considering starting a family and have concerns about the risk of Lynch syndrome, it is important to discuss different options with your healthcare provider and genetic counsellor. They will help you make an informed decision.

How does Lynch syndrome affect my family?

Genes are inherited in pairs. You inherit one from your mother and one from your father. If someone has Lynch syndrome, one copy of a mismatch repair (MMR) gene is altered and is not working properly. A mismatch gene is a gene involved in making repairs to errors in DNA. If a parent has Lynch syndrome, they can pass the affected gene on to their children. This means that each of their children have a 1 in 2 chance of also having Lynch syndrome.

Knowing this information means you can take steps to reduce your risk of developing cancer. Ask your healthcare provider about where you can get support to talk to your family.

If I have Lynch syndrome, will I get cancer?

Not everyone with Lynch syndrome will develop cancer, but you have an increased risk compared to the general population. People with Lynch syndrome have an increased risk of developing some types of cancer, such as:

• bowel (colorectal)

• endometrial or uterine

• ovarian cancer.

Lynch syndrome causes 1 in every 35 cases of bowel cancer, 1 in every 50 cases of endometrial cancer.

Your risk of developing cancer depends on which gene is affected, your age and being male or female.

Check out http://www.plsd.eu