Cancer Genetics has launched Focus:: HERSite, a focused genomic panel for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome (HBOC). The genomic panel will examine the 16 most common genes associated with breast and ovarian cancers, and provide broad coverage of BRCA1 and BRCA2.
“The demand for high quality, clinically validated hereditary cancer testing continues to rise. Over the past year we have seen significant demand from our customer base, both clinical and biopharma, to provide hereditary cancer testing,” said Panna Sharma, Cancer Genetics president and CEO, in a press release. That announcement also estimated the market for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer testing is $2.5 billion, with an annual estimated growth of 7%.
“The market is demanding that hereditary cancer testing be both more widely available, and more integrated into one’s comprehensive health profile. We believe that our entry into comprehensive hereditary cancer testing will generate significant additional revenue for CGI during 2017 and beyond,” Sharma added.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that more than half of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in women eventually lead to breast cancer by the age of 70. For ovarian cancer, the statistics predict 30% will develop the disease by the same age.
“Managing cancer risk by combining our rigorously validated panel of hereditary cancer tests, like Focus::HERSite, with the insights and guidance provided by board-certified genetic counselors allows patients to have confidence that a highly-informed and personalized preventive plan is being created for their needs,” said Daniel Duncan, MD, Cancer Genetics’ medical director.
“Our new panel, Focus::HERSite, will enable healthcare providers and community genetic counselors to identify women at a high risk for breast and ovarian cancer, enabling individualized risk management and intervention as needed. Additionally, the hereditary offering will include comprehensive coverage of the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, with the ability to detect large genomic rearrangements, duplications, and deletions in those genes, which are often overlooked or missed by companies using only hotspot based panels without in-depth profiling,” Duncan added.
According to Cancer.net, a diagnosis of HBOC should be considered whenever there are several cases of breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer on the same side of the family. Chances of having HBOC in the family increase when: One of these cancers is diagnosed in one or more women at age 45 or younger; there are records of one of the two cancers in multiple generations; a woman is diagnosed with a second breast cancer in the same or the other breast, or has both cancers; or when a male relative is diagnosed with breast cancer, among others.