Cancer Genetics and Prevention Counseling

If one of your loved ones is diagnose with cancer, it is totally natural to have concerns like “Am I going to get cancer?”, “Is cancer heritable?”, “How preventable is cancer?”, or “Is the disease contagious?”.

We, at MACSA, understand these concerns very well and, of course, have solutions for them. our “Cancer Prevention Counseling” and “Genetic Consoling” are tailored for those families who seek for reliable, up to date information and a practical prevention plan to maintain their physical and mental health.

 Cancer Prevention Counseling

In the era of social media, when the spread of unreliable content, causes concern and confusion among people, learning about the nature of cancer and how it develops, plays an important role in mitigating these concerns. Although some causes of cancers are still unclear, and some like aging might be unavoidable, yet many of them can be prevented. As well, along with prevention, the screening and early detection of cancer are now regarded as established ways to fight cancer.

This implies the necessity of access to reliable sources for the general papulation. Prevention counseling at MACSA is planned to address these concerns. We work at MACSA to spread awareness, not only to the affected families but also to the entire community.

MACSA holds weekly seminars for the families to teach them how to prevent and screen for cancer. As well we plan events all around the year to promote cancer awareness among the public.

Genetic Counseling

 Genetic counseling can help to identify families that are more likely to develop cancer. While only 5 to 10 percent of cancers are heritable, genetic counseling provides the opportunity to screen a larger population to identify such fraction of the cases.

Genetic counselors, gather the medical history of the family and draw the connections between the family members in a so-called pedigree diagram. If any sign of hereditary disease was found, diagnostic tests may be prescribed to determine the damaged gene (i.e. mutant gene: the gene that can cause cancer in the future). If any damaged gene is determined, further diagnostic tests are done to determine which members of the family are at risk to develop cancer in the future. The carriers of the damaged genes are then advised and referred for specific follow-up and/or prophylactic care plans.

If any of your first-degree relatives are ever diagnosed with any of gastric, colorectal, pancreatic, ovary, endometrial, breast or prostate cancer, under 50 years of age, you may need to visit a cancer genetic counselor.

For more information, please contact MACSA