Submitted by Genetic Support Foundation
A new, free, patient navigator service called Cascade Screening Connector (CSC) is now available for all Washington State residents who have a genetic susceptibility to developing certain cancers.
Genetic Support Foundation has partnered with the Washington State Department of Health to provide cascade screening to help people identify and contact family members who may have an increased chance of developing cancer.
Some genetic conditions can be passed from parent to child, generation to generation, affecting multiple family members. Cascade screening is a way to identify and test the relatives of people who have particular genetic conditions that may “run in the family,” such as Lynch Syndrome and Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndromes, like BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, CHEK2, ATM, and others.
The CSC helps identify at-risk relatives and collect contact information, shares the diagnosis with these relatives, and connects them with health services. CSC team members walk patients through their family tree to develop a plan for communicating this important information to the appropriate family members.
Cascade screening gives health care professionals a chance to detect these conditions early and provide appropriate medical recommendations.
When a person is diagnosed with one of these conditions, their family members are at heightened risk for that condition too. Unlike some other genetic conditions, Lynch Syndrome and Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome are “autosomal dominant” conditions. This means there is a 50% chance of a parent passing on the condition to their child. That’s why it’s so important to talk with relatives about getting screened.
Relatives at risk commonly include first- and second-degree relatives such as parents, siblings, children, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, grandparents, grandchildren, and half-siblings.
The CSC encourages physicians, oncologists, genetic counselors, and other health care providers to share CSC information with those who have family history of hereditary cancers. Patients are also encouraged to call or email the CSC directly. Anyone in Washington state with hereditary cancer risk can call the Cascade Screening Connector at 360-524-6577 or toll free at 800-364-1641.
The CSC was funded by a grant from the Center for Disease Control, and is one of the first services of its type offered in the U.S. For more information about the Cascade Screening Connector, visit the Washington Department of Health website.
