UBC researchers at the BC Cancer Research Institute have made an advancement in genetic testing that allows for more accurate prediction of which parent’s genes led to an individual’s increased cancer risk. This improves the efficiency of familial testing strategies and could eliminate concern for patients at high risk of cancer caused by genes inherited from a parent.
The new test confirms whether a cancer predisposing gene variant is present in a patient, and can determine whether the variant was inherited from the mother or the father—an understanding that was not possible until now. The approach was spearheaded by Vahid Akbari and Dr. Steven Jones at Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre (GSC), and by Vincent Hanlon and Dr. Peter Lansdorp at the BC Cancer Research Institute’s Terry Fox Laboratory.
