SPOKANE, WA - Cancer Care Northwest (CCNW) is now providing genetic cancer risk assessments to help individuals calculate their risk of cancer with the possibility of testing for a hereditary gene.
“The purpose of a genetic cancer risk assessment is to identify individuals who have an increased risk of cancer,” said Jennifer Lazzara, DNP, ARNP, CGRA, a nurse practitioner and CCNW’s certified genetic risk assessment counselor.
“Hereditary cancer syndromes significantly increase the chance an individual could develop cancer. The benefit of knowing a person’s risk is enabling the individual to be proactive about improving overall health, increasing surveillance to identify cancers at earlier stages, and possibly changing medical management to further reduce cancer risk. A known hereditary gene variation can also help to guide treatment of cancer.”
An assessment starts with Lazzara reviewing the patient’s personal and family health history and the patient’s medical record for cancer and other conditions. “The process includes an office visit with me to review personal and family history and possibly have genetic testing performed,” says Lazzara. “Genetic testing can be performed in various ways and will depend on the information assessed at the time of the visit. Usually it is a blood sample, but could also be a saliva or other type of tissue sample.”
Lazzara reviews the results and explains the findings to the patients and can help them determine their next steps in the process.
If you have a personal and/or family history of cancer and are interested in a cancer genetic risk assessment (CGRA), please call Cancer Care Northwest at (509) 228-1000 to schedule an appointment with CCNW’s certified CGRA counselor, Jennifer Lazzara, DNP, ARNP, CGRA.
Learn more by visiting the CCNW Cancer Genetic Risk Assessment webpage.
