Genetic Cancer Susceptibility Panels Using Next Generation Sequencing

Commercially available cancer susceptibility gene panels can test for multiple variants associated with a specific type of cancer or can include variants associated with a wide variety of cancers. Some of these variants are associated with inherited cancer syndromes. The cancer type(s), as well as a cancer history involving multiple family members, increase the clinical concern for the presence of a heritable genetic variant. It has been proposed that variant testing using next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology to analyze multiple genes at one time (panel testing) can optimize genetic testing in these patients compared with sequencing single genes.