Empower your patient’s decisions with Hereditary Cancer testing

Approximately 1 in 3 people in the US will be affected by cancer during their lifetimes. 5-10% of those cancers are believed to be due to a hereditary predisposition.

These hereditary predispositions may be shared by a person’s family members including parents, siblings, and offspring. For example, if a mother or father is found to be a carrier for a pathogenic BRCA2 variant, each of their offspring also have a 50% chance of inheriting the pathogenic variant, which may lead to an increased risk for developing certain types of cancer

Assessing your patient’s DNA for pathogenic and likely pathogenic variants can help other family members to assess their risks for potential cancer development.

Through Baylor Genetics, clinicians can order a wide range of tests including single gene studies, disease-specific panels, and comprehensive studies. Screening allows for a more accurate determination of personal and familial cancer risks and may potentially inform medical management decisions. Hereditary cancer screening is suitable for individuals who are suspected of having an inherited cancer syndrome or have a personal history of cancer suggestive of an underlying genetic condition.

Know your patients risks with Hereditary Cancer testing

Specimen Requirements
SAMPLE TYPE
REQUIREMENTS
SHIPPING CONDITIONS

FFPE Block
or
FFPE Slides

  • For FFPE block please provide paraffin-embedded, formalin-fixed tissue block containing ≥20% tumor nuclei with a minimum tumor surface area of 5 mm x 5 mm (25 mm2).
  • For FFPE slides please provide 10-15 unstained 5 μm FFPE slides containing ≥20% tumor nuclei with a minimum tumor surface area of 5 mm x 5 mm (25 mm2). For smaller specimens, 20 or more unstained 5 μm FFPE slides containing ≥20% tumor nuclei should be submitted.
  • A surgical pathology report MUST be attached for all tissue samples.
  • Decalcified specimens are not accepted.

Ship at room temperature in an insulated container by overnight courier. If shipping during the summer months, please include a cold-pack to avoid extreme temperatures. Do not heat or freeze.

Fresh Frozen Tissue

  • 150 mg fresh tissue snap frozen at ≤-20°C. Store at ≤-20°C.
  • Please send a corresponding representative H&E slide if available.
  • A surgical pathology report MUST be attached for all tissue samples. Surgical pathology report may be sent later as soon as it becomes available.
Ship on minimum of 10 lbs. of dry ice in an insulated container by overnight courier.

Fresh Tissue in Medium

  • 0.5-1 cm3 or more fresh tissue in a sterile, screw-top container filled with tissue culture transport medium. If tissue culture transport medium is not available, collect in plain RPMI, Hanks solution, or saline.
  • Please send a corresponding representative H&E slide if available.
  • A surgical pathology report MUST be attached for all tissue samples. Surgical pathology report may be sent later as soon as it becomes available.
Ship at refrigerated or room temperature in an insulated container by overnight courier. Do not heat or freeze.

Specimen should arrive in laboratory within 48 hours of collection.

Blood
or
Bone Marrow

  • 3-5 cc (2 yrs-adult), 2-3 cc (newborn-2 yrs) in EDTA (purple-top) tube (molecular testing) or sodium heparin (green-top) tube (cytogenetics and FISH).
  • Attach clinical notes and concurrent laboratory reports (such as CBC, flow cytometry, cytogenetics, FISH, molecular testing, and pathology reports).
  • Concurrent laboratory reports may be sent later as soon as they become available.
Ship at room or refrigerated temperature in an insulated container by overnight courier. Do not heat or freeze.

Specimen should arrive in laboratory within 24-48 hours of collection.

DNA (Extracted)

  • At least 100 ng with minimum concentration of 25 ng/µL
  • Attach clinical notes, concurrent laboratory reports and or/surgical pathology reports, as applicable.
  • Please send a corresponding representative H&E slide if available.
Ship at room temperature in an insulated container by overnight courier. May also be shipped frozen on minimum of 10 lbs of dry ice in an insulated container by overnight courier.
Bo Yuan
Clinical Director
Brian Y. Merritt
Medical Director, Emerging Business 
Carlos A. Bacino
Medical Director, Cytogenetics
Christine Eng
Chief Medical Officer, Chief Quality Officer
Chung Wah Wu
Assistant Clinical Director
a6b0b85d-5cec-4cd6-bbd4-53b8c3593afc
Associate Vice President, Clinical Operations 
Fan Xia
Chief Genomics Officer
Hongzheng Dai
Associate Clinical Director, NGS/Molecular
Janice Smith
Sr. Clinical Director, Cytogenetics
Katharina Schulze
Assistant Clinical Director
Characterization of chromosomal abnormalities in pregnancy losses reveals critical genes and loci for human early development

Chen Y, Bartanus J, Liang D, Zhu H, Breman AM, Smith JL, Wang H, Ren Z, Patel A, Stankiewicz P, Cram DS, Cheung SW, Wu L, Yu F. Characterization of chromosomal abnormalities in pregnancy losses reveals critical genes and loci for human early development. Hum Mutat. 2017 Jun;38(6):669-677. PMID: 28247551

Mechanisms for complex chromosomal insertions

Gu S, Szafranski P, Akdemir ZC, Yuan B, Cooper ML, Magriñá MA, Bacino CA, Lalani SR, Breman AM, Smith JL, Patel A, Song RH, Bi W, Cheung SW, Carvalho CM, Stankiewicz P, Lupski JR. Mechanisms for Complex Chromosomal Insertions. PLoS Genet. 2016 Nov 23;12(11):e1006446. PMID: 27880765

Genome-wide copy number analysis on DNA from fetal cells isolated from the blood of pregnant women

Kølvraa S, Singh R, Normand EA, Qdaisat S, Van denVeyver IB, Jackson L, Hatt L, Schelde P, Uldbjerg N, Vestergaard EM, Zhao L, Chen R, Shaw CA, Breman AM, Beaudet AL. Genome-wide copy number analysis on DNA from fetal cells isolated from the blood of pregnant women. Prenat Diagn. 2016 Oct 19. PMID: 27761919

Evidence for feasibility of fetal trophoblastic cell-based noninvasive prenatal testing

Amy M. Breman, Jennifer C. Chow, Lance U’Ren, Elizabeth A. Normand, Sadeem Qdaisat, Li Zhao, David M. Henke, Rui Chen, Chad A. Shaw, Laird Jackson, Yaping Yang, Liesbeth Vossaert, Rachel H.V. Needham, Daniel Campton, Jeffrey L. Werbin, Ron C. Seubert, Ignatia B. Van den Veyver, Jackie L. Stilwell, Eric P. Kaldjian, Arthur L. Beaudet. Evidence for feasibility of fetal trophoblastic cell-based noninvasive prenatal testing. Prenat Diagn. 2016 Sep 12. PubMed: 27616633

Fibrochondrogenesis results from mutations in the COL11A1 type XI collagen gene

Tompson SW, Bacino CA, Safina NP, Bober MB, Proud VK, Funari T, Wangler MF, Nevarez L, Ala-Kokko L, Wilcox WR, Eyre DR, Krakow D, Cohn DH.   Fibrochondrogenesis results from mutations in the COL11A1 type XI collagen gene.  Am J Hum Genet. 87:708-712, 2010. PMID: 21035103

Who should consider Hereditary Cancer Testing?

MORE THAN ONE PRIMARY CANCER IN THE SAME PERSON

MULTIPLE CLOSE FAMILY MEMBERS WITH CANCERS DIAGNOSED YOUNGER THAN AGE 50

PATIENTS WITH RARE CANCERS AT ANY AGE

3 OR MORE CLOSE FAMILY MEMBERS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER

HISTORY OF CANCER FOR WHICH THERE IS A HIGH INCIDENCE IN THE INDIVIDUALS ETHNIC GROUP

PATIENTS WITH PREVIOUSLY TARGETED GENETIC TESTING WHO MAY BENEFIT FROM AN EXTENDED PANEL