The ultimate guide to caring for and communicating with patients suffering with hereditary cancer syndromes Providing the essential tools needed to understand clinical cancer genetics, Cancer Genetics: A Clinical Approach builds your mastery of differential diagnosis formulation, all the available genetic testing options at your disposal, interpreting results logically and accurately, and educating patients and their families about effective cancer prevention methods. This unparalleled resource walks you through the process of effectively and thoughtfully counseling patients—from pre-test counseling and relaying test results to navigating the legal implications of hereditary conditions and coping with the resulting psychological challenges. Cancer Genetics: A Clinical Approach is ideal for both specialized cancer genetics clinics or any healthcare professional seeking to improve their skills in identifying patients with possible hereditary cancer syndromes and recognizing which ones should be referred to a high-risk/clinical genetics specialty program.

Advances in genetics are transforming estimates of an individual’s risk of developing cancer and approaches to prevention and management of cancer in those who may have increased susceptibility. Identifying and caring for patients with hereditary cancer syndromes and their family members present a complex clinical, scientific and social challenge. This textbook, by leading experts at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, highlights the current understanding of the genetics of hereditary cancers of the breast, ovary, colorectum, stomach, pancreas, kidney, skin, and endocrine organs. Practical guidelines for the use of genetic testing, cancer screening and surveillance, prophylactic surgery, and promising targeted therapeutic agents are discussed. In addition, ongoing research involving genome-wide screens to identify novel modest risk-associated genetic loci are explored, along with new approaches to the application of genetic markers in guiding therapeutic options.

'Medical Genetics' offers up-to-date information on modern genetics. This comprehensive study includes the latest findings from genetic research and how that knowledge can be used in clinical practice.

"This book provides a comprehensive overview of hereditary cancer for a general audience, with coverage of the genetic tests available for detecting risk for heritable cancers as well as options for medical and surgical treatment"--

A Kirkus Best Book of 2016 Oncologist and cancer gene hunter Theo Ross delivers the first authoritative, go-to for people facing a genetic predisposition for cancer There are 13 million people with cancer in the United States, and it’s estimated that about 1.3 million of these cases are hereditary. Yet despite advanced training in cancer genetics and years of practicing medicine, Dr. Theo Ross was never certain whether the history of cancers in her family was simple bad luck or a sign that they were carriers of a cancer-causing genetic mutation. Then she was diagnosed with melanoma, and for someone with a dark complexion, melanoma made no sense. It turned out there was a genetic factor at work. Using her own family’s story, the latest science of cancer genetics, and her experience as a practicing physician, Ross shows readers how to spot the patterns of inherited cancer, how to get tested for cancer-causing genes, and what to do if you have one. With a foreword by Siddartha Mukherjee, prize winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies, this will be the first authoritative, go-to for people facing inherited cancer, this book empowers readers to face their genetic heritage without fear and to make decisions that will keep them and their families healthy.

This practical, user-friendly guidebook will allow the clinician to search under disease site for the hereditary cancer syndromes relevant for his/her patient's cancer. For example, a gynecologist oncologist whose patient has ovarian cancer can turn to the Ovary chapter and quickly read a summary of all of the hereditary cancer syndromes that include ovarian cancer. She can learn the questions she should be asking when expanding that patient's personal and family history, which genes are most relevant, whether to refer that patient on for genetic counseling and testing, and how to manage that patient long-term if the patient is mutation positive or negative. The same holds true for the practicing oncologist, surgeon, urologist, endocrinologist, gynecologist, primary care physician, physician's assistant, advanced practice nurse and any other clinician seeing a patient who has had cancer. This guidebook also contains an overview article on genetic counseling and testing and several in depth articles on issues that are up and coming in the field of hereditary cancer.

Written by a world-recognized leader in this emerging field, Clinical Cancer Genetics provides an updated and expanded treatment of Kenneth Offit's seminal text on the clinical management associated with syndromes of cancer predisposition, with a thorough review of the relevant molecular genetics. This second edition features new coverage of pharmacogenetics, gene therapy trials, high throughput genotyping, and microarrays and includes a new focus on epigenetic events in carcinogenesis within background chapter on cancer genetics. Expanded coverage highlights more uncommon and rare cancer predisposition syndromes.