The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) last month released its policy statement on genetic and genomic testing for cancer susceptibility, updated in light of advances in NGS. The statement made recommendations in several areas. For example, ASCO encouraged providers to create and institute plans to determine and respond to patients’ preferences for receiving information on discovery of germline variants incidental to somatic mutation profiling. The Society recommended research, guidelines and education on the use of multigene panel testing for susceptibility to cancers, which it is promoting. The policy statement called for high standards of quality for tests from different labs, risk-based US FDA regulation of laboratory-developed tests and regulatory review of high-risk tests for identifying patients with increased cancer risk. ASCO also promoted continuing education of oncology professionals for further training in genetic knowledge, and payment and coverage policies that support access to cancer genetic services.

Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology