Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jun 12;52(4):293-301.
doi: 10.1188/25.ONF.293-301.

Consideration for Multigene Panel Testing Outside of Cancer-Specific Genetic Testing

Alicia Lauren Smith  1 , Hayrettin Okut  2 , Elizabeth Ablah  3 , Maggie Ward  4
Affiliations

Consideration for Multigene Panel Testing Outside of Cancer-Specific Genetic Testing

Alicia Lauren Smith et al. Oncol Nurs Forum. .

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for the care of patients with malignancies and capture the expected number of patients with pathogenic variants (PVs) linked to hereditary cancers. This research assessed how well the NCCN Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment: Breast, Ovarian, and Pancreatic, version 3.2023, and Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment: Colorectal, version 2.2022, guidelines identify patients with cancer-related PVs.

Sample & setting: 116 health records of patients aged 18 years or older who completed an 84-multigene cancer panel study in a hospital in the midwestern United States were reviewed.

Methods & variables: The hospital system's cancer risk assessment clinical database was used to acquire patient information and test results from patients with PVs. These data were evaluated against NCCN guidelines to determine whether testing guidelines were met.

Results: There were 38 participants who met NCCN testing guidelines for hereditary breast cancer, 24 who met Lynch syndrome criteria, and 17 who had a single PV but did not meet any of the testing criteria.

Implications for nursing: This retrospective chart review verifies the need for multigene panel testing. There were 17 patients with PVs who did not meet NCCN guidelines for testing.

Keywords: NCCN guidelines; cancer screening; carrier testing; hereditary cancer syndrome.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No financial relationships to disclose.

References

    1. Acharya M, Zorn KK, Simonson ME, Bimali M, Moore GW, Peng C, Martin BC. Statewide trends and factors associated with genetic testing for hereditary cancer risk in Arkansas 2013–2018. Hereditary Cancer in Clinical Practice. 2022;20(1):19. doi: 10.1186/s13053-022-00226-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al-Tassan N, Chmiel NH, Maynard J, Fleming N, Livingston AL, Williams GT, Cheadle JP. Inherited variants of MYH associated with somatic G:CJT:A mutations in colorectal tumors. Nature Genetics. 2002;30(2):227–232. - PubMed
    1. Boonen RACM, Vreeswijk MPG, van Attikum H. CHEK2 variants: Linking functional impact to cancer risk. Trends in Cancer. 2022;8(9):759–770. - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An update on cancer deaths in the United States. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2022. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/119728 .
    1. Childers KK, Maggard-Gibbons M, Macinko J, Childers CP. National distribution of cancer genetic testing in the United States: Evidence for a gender disparity in hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. JAMA Oncology. 2018;4(6):876–879. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2018.0340. - DOI - PMC - PubMed