Familial cancer syndromes

Thanks to the veritably logarithmic advances in the molecular genetics of many emerging hereditary cancer syndromes, genetic counselling has become of paramount importance. It is a key element of the emerging concepts for patient education and management, which have become the clinical bedrock for diagnosis and management of hereditary cancer. Genetic counsellors have become proficient in the understanding of the complexities of molecular genetics in relation to hereditary cancer syndromes, demonstrating their ability both to supplement and replace the customary physician’s role in this overall process. We have used colorectal cancer, in particular Lynch syndrome, as a clinical genetic model based on the authors’ experience with diagnosis, DNA testing, and counselling of thousands of families for over four decades. Undoubtedly, the surface of the proverbial iceberg has barely been grazed in regard to the developments for the genetic counseling discipline.