Germline Testing for the Evaluation of Hereditary Cancer Predisposition

Germline genetic testing can guide the treatment of patients with cancer and allow surveillance and/or prophylactic interventions to reduce future disease risk in patients and their family members. Offering universal genetic testing to wider groups of patients with cancer may allow more larger groups of patients to take advantage of these benefits. However, questions and challenges remain regarding the cost-effectiveness of comprehensive testing in individuals with different types of cancers and the impact of inconclusive test results due to variants of uncertain significance. Further studies on broader cohorts will elucidate the optimal testing strategies for diverse patient populations.