A New Comprehensive Hereditary Cancer Solution Has Been Launched

A new comprehensive hereditary cancer solution will offer genetic counseling and multigene panels to enhance early detection of disease's like brain cancer: © Aerial Mike - stock.adobe.com

A new comprehensive hereditary cancer solution that offers genetic counseling and multigene panels to enhance early detection and patient support has been launched by LetsGetChecked, the company has announced in a news release.

This solution, intended to optimize patient care, includes in-house genetic counseling, a portal designed to enhance collaboration and streamline workflows and a selection of multigene panels to choose from, identifying risk and disease-causing variants associated with hereditary cancer syndromes across organ systems including breast, ovarian, uterine gastrointestinal, endocrine, renal, skin and brain/nervous system cancers.

“By delivering a purpose-built, end-to-end provider solution, LetsGetChecked is addressing critical gaps in cancer care and prevention,” said Francheska Werner, head of Provider Genomics at LetsGetChecked. In the news release. “Patients nationwide remain undiagnosed due to backlogs in hereditary cancer screening. Our solution enhances existing care models both within and beyond clinical settings, ensuring more patients receive the support they need while alleviating provider workload. We want genetic experts to focus on delivering meaningful care rather than administrative burdens. This marks a transformative moment — one I have anticipated for decades.”

While most cancers are random, or sporadic, and caused by risk factors, 5% to 10% of cancers are hereditary, as Yale Medicine explained on its website. Risk for these cancers can be passed down from one generation to another in a family in a manner like hereditary traits such as height and eye color.

As Yale Medicine explained, if a harmful change, known as a pathogenic variant or mutation, is present in a gene that is important in the protection against cancer, then that mutation stops the gene from functioning properly, in turn resulting in an increased risk of that person developing cancer — which is known as a hereditary cancer syndrome, of which there are known to be more than 50.

LetsGetChecked, according to the news release, integrates laboratory testing, genetic sequencing, health insights, virtual care and medication delivery. It was founded in 2015 and has worked with more than 10 million individuals and more than 6,000 corporate clients. Operating across the United States as well as in the United Kingdom and most European Union countries, the company has headquarters in Dublin and New York. The company accepts all major insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid.

“Innovation is more than just science and technology — it’s also about execution and accessibility,” said Avni Santani, chief genomics officer at LetsGetChecked, in the news release. “LetsGetChecked is uniquely positioned to integrate genomics into mainstream healthcare at scale. We are setting a new benchmark in clinical cancer diagnostics, ensuring providers and patients alike benefit from cutting-edge advancements. This commitment has been central to our mission from the very beginning.”

Clinical practice guidelines, as explained by the National Cancer Institute on its website, recommends genetic testing for any patient who has received a diagnosis of triple-negative breast cancer, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer before the age of 50, metastatic prostate cancer or male breast cancer. Knowing that a patient has cancer related to an inherited genetic change may help in the treatment selection process and may also be relevant information for blood relatives.

The National Cancer Institute notes that it is generally recommended for people with certain personal or family medical histories to consult with a doctor or genetic counselor to see if genetic testing is right for them. Examples of such features include having a family member with a known inherited harmful genetic change, cancer diagnosed at a young age, several different cancer types in the same person, cancer diagnosed in multiple family members, cancer in both of a set of paired organs, rare cancer types, the presence of birth defects known to be associated with inherited cancer syndromes, and being a member of a racial or ethnic group known to have an increased risk of a specific hereditary cancer syndrome and having one or more of the previously listed features.

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