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Related Links
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"Helping to
Identify Hereditary Cancer Risk"
from summer 2007
St. John's newsletter
Cancer Genetics Clinic
On the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric
Genetic Link to Colon Cancer
A genetic defect called Lynch Syndrome significantly lowers the average age of a colon cancer diagnosis. Katie Couric interviews a brother and sister who have a family history of cancer, and Anna Leininger, certified genetics counselor at HealthEast Cancer Care. Watch the segment on the CBS web site.
Eye to Eye: Colon Cancer's DNA
Katie Couric speaks with Anna Leininger, certified genetics counselor at HealthEast Cancer Care, about Lynch Syndrome.
Watch the interview on the CBS web site.
About us
The HealthEast Cancer Genetics Clinic helps people who are concerned about their inherited cancer risk.
We offer genetic counseling and testing to help you make informed decisions about medical care. Knowing your cancer risk can affect the way you approach cancer prevention, detection and treatment. It can also help to reduce anxiety and give you peace of mind.
Location
The Cancer Genetics Clinic is located at St. John's Hospital in the Resource Library of the Breast Care Center. Click for a map.
To make an appointment
To schedule an appointment call 651-232-7970 or click here for a referral form you can take to your doctor.
Genes and cancer
Each cell of the human body has around 25,000 pairs of genes. We inherit one copy from our mother and the other from our father. Some of these genes work to help prevent cancer. In some families, abnormalities in these genes are passed from one generation to the next, increasing the risk of developing cancer.
Signs of inherited cancer risk can include:
- Family history of cancers
For example: two or more closely related family members (parents, siblings or children) who have had cancer; a close relative and more distant relatives who have had cancer.
- Cancer diagnosed at an early age
For example: breast or colon cancer before age 50.
- Cancer more than once in the same person
For example: bilateral breast cancer; breast cancer and ovarian cancer; colon cancer twice; colon cancer and uterine cancer.
- Rare types of cancer
Such as: medullary thyroid cancer, cancer of the adrenal cortex, pheochromocytoma.
Types of cancers that can run in families include:
- Breast (in females and males)
- Ovarian
- Prostate
- Colorectal
- Uterine
- Pancreatic
- Melanoma
- Kidney
- Others
Assessing your risk
After carefully reviewing your situation and family history, we'll provide information to help you determine next steps.
The assessment process includes:
- A detailed family history
The more we know about your family history, the better.
- Risk assessment and genetic counseling
You'll meet with a genetic counselor to discuss your family history, learn more about genes and cancer, and determine what steps you can take to reduce your risks. Click here for answers to frequently asked questions about genetic counseling.
- Genetic testing
We'll help determine if genetic testing is available. If so, it may more clearly define your risk. We may also explore potential benefits, limitations and alternatives to genetic testing.
- Follow up
The genetic counselor will share the assessment with your doctors, who can then use the genetic information to create an individualized plan for cancer prevention, detection and/or treatment.