[Comment] Implications of indiscriminate testing for cancer susceptibility genes
Summary
Expansion of genetic testing to the general population is one of the ambitions of the UK Government's 2025 10-year Health Plan for England, as part of a strategy for transition from “sickness to prevention”.1 Identification of individuals at increased cancer risk due to pathogenic variants in cancer susceptibility genes, leading to targeted screening and prioritisation of risk reduction strategies is one potential b…
Expansion of genetic testing to the general population is one of the ambitions of the UK Government's 2025 10-year Health Plan for England, as part of a strategy for transition from “sickness to prevention”.1 Identification of individuals at increased cancer risk due to pathogenic variants in cancer susceptibility genes, leading to targeted screening and prioritisation of risk reduction strategies is one potential benefit of this approach. However, there are many outstanding questions about the impact on health-care services.