Cancer genetic counseling & screening
Cancer genetic counseling and screening at Atlantic Health helps you understand your inherited cancer risk, explore whether genetic testing is right for you and take proactive steps to protect your health and your family’s future.
Understand individual and related risks
Anyone with questions about their possible risk of developing cancer may benefit from genetic counseling. Most cancers are not inherited, but some are. Working with a genetic counselor can help you understand your individual cancer risk as well as provide information for relatives. Most people seeking cancer genetic testing have either a personal or family history of cancer.
You might consider genetic counseling and testing if you or a close family member has a history of the following:
- Early onset cancer (under age 50, for example, breast or colorectal cancer under age 50)
- A diagnosis of ovarian, pancreatic, metastatic prostate or male breast cancer at any age
- More than one occurrence of cancer in any part of the body
- Multiple colon polyps (10 or more, or early onset)
- Multiple relatives with the same or related types of cancer on the same side of the family
- Rare types of tumors/cancer such as pheochromocytoma, paraganglioma and medullary thyroid cancer
- A mutation in a known cancer predisposition gene
If you need a better understanding of the genetic tests results you have already received from your healthcare provider, you are welcome to receive genetic counseling to review those results at Atlantic Health.
Genetic counseling is also available to individuals who underwent testing in the past but wish to review updated genetic testing options (multi-gene panels).
To make an appointment for genetic counseling at any of our locations, please call 973-971-6672.