Gynecologic Cancer Risk and Genetics: Informing an Ideal Model of Gynecologic Cancer Prevention

Lauren C Tindale¹, Almira Zhantuyakova¹, Stephanie Lam¹, Michelle Woo¹, Janice S Kwon¹, Gillian E Hanley¹, Bartha Knoppers², Kasmintan A Schrader^{3

4}, Stuart J Peacock⁵, Aline Talhouk¹, Trevor Dummer⁶, Kelly Metcalfe^{7

8}, Nora Pashayan⁹, William D Foulkes¹⁰, Ranjit Manchanda^{11

12

13}, David Huntsman¹⁴, Gavin Stuart¹, Jacques Simard¹⁵, Lesa Dawson¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
² Faculty of Medicine, Human Genetics, Centre of Genomics and Policy, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada.
³ Hereditary Cancer Program, BC Cancer, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4E6, Canada.
⁴ Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
⁵ Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC V5A 1S6, Canada.
⁶ School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
⁷ Women's College Research Institute, Toronto, ON M5G 1N8, Canada.
⁸ Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada.
⁹ Department of Applied Health Research, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
¹⁰ Departments of Medicine, Human Genetics and Oncology, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada.
¹¹ Wolfson Institute for Population Health, CRUK Barts Cancer Centre, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6BQ, UK.
¹² Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1H 9SH, UK.
¹³ MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL, Institute of Clinical Trials & Methodology, Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
¹⁴ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
¹⁵ Genomics Center, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec-Université Laval Research Center, Québec City, QC G1V 4G2, Canada.

PMID: 35877228
PMCID: PMC9322111
DOI: 10.3390/curroncol29070368

Review

Gynecologic Cancer Risk and Genetics: Informing an Ideal Model of Gynecologic Cancer Prevention

Lauren C Tindale et al. Curr Oncol. 2022.

. 2022 Jun 30;29(7):4632-4646.

doi: 10.3390/curroncol29070368.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
² Faculty of Medicine, Human Genetics, Centre of Genomics and Policy, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada.
³ Hereditary Cancer Program, BC Cancer, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4E6, Canada.
⁴ Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
⁵ Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC V5A 1S6, Canada.
⁶ School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
⁷ Women's College Research Institute, Toronto, ON M5G 1N8, Canada.
⁸ Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada.
⁹ Department of Applied Health Research, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
¹⁰ Departments of Medicine, Human Genetics and Oncology, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada.
¹¹ Wolfson Institute for Population Health, CRUK Barts Cancer Centre, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6BQ, UK.
¹² Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1H 9SH, UK.
¹³ MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL, Institute of Clinical Trials & Methodology, Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
¹⁴ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
¹⁵ Genomics Center, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec-Université Laval Research Center, Québec City, QC G1V 4G2, Canada.

PMID: 35877228
PMCID: PMC9322111
DOI: 10.3390/curroncol29070368

Abstract

Individuals with proven hereditary cancer syndrome (HCS) such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 have elevated rates of ovarian, breast, and other cancers. If these high-risk people can be identified before a cancer is diagnosed, risk-reducing interventions are highly effective and can be lifesaving. Despite this evidence, the vast majority of Canadians with HCS are unaware of their risk. In response to this unmet opportunity for prevention, the British Columbia Gynecologic Cancer Initiative convened a research summit "Gynecologic Cancer Prevention: Thinking Big, Thinking Differently" in Vancouver, Canada on 26 November 2021. The aim of the conference was to explore how hereditary cancer prevention via population-based genetic testing could decrease morbidity and mortality from gynecologic cancer. The summit invited local, national, and international experts to (1) discuss how genetic testing could be more broadly implemented in a Canadian system, (2) identify key research priorities in this topic and (3) outline the core essential elements required for such a program to be successful. This report summarizes the findings from this research summit, describes the current state of hereditary genetic programs in Canada, and outlines incremental steps that can be taken to improve prevention for high-risk Canadians now while developing an organized population-based hereditary cancer strategy.

Keywords: BRCA; cancer screening; hereditary cancer syndrome; population-based genetic testing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Actionable steps towards hereditary ovarian cancer prevention. The upper dashed line represents the ~20% of hereditary ovarian cancer cases that are attributed to *BRCA1* and *BRCA2* mutations.

**Figure 2**
Research summit participants were asked to rate statements about hereditary cancer prevention using the following scale: strongly disagree, disagree, neither agree nor disagree, agree, or strongly agree.

**Figure 3**
Research summit participants were asked to assign a priority rating to hereditary cancer prevention action items using the following scale: low priority, medium priority, high priority, or very high priority.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Gynecologic Cancer Risk and Genetics: Informing an Ideal Model of Gynecologic Cancer Prevention

Affiliations

Gynecologic Cancer Risk and Genetics: Informing an Ideal Model of Gynecologic Cancer Prevention

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous