Cancer Genetic Counseling and Testing

Understand your risk for cancer and take steps to lower your cancer risk or detect it early. Or, when cancer is already diagnosed, make informed decisions on your most effective course of treatment.

What is Cancer Genetic Counseling and testing?

Through a genetic counseling session, a certified genetic counselor will collect your personal and family history and additional background information. The genetic counselor will then help you decide what tests might be right for you. Genetic testing, done through blood and/or saliva tests, can help people understand their risk for cancer, help them make medical decisions, and take steps to lower their cancer risk or detect cancer early. If done when cancer is already diagnosed, genetic testing helps make informed decisions on the most effective course of treatment.

When is Genetic Counseling and Testing Advised or when should it be considered?

There are several reasons your doctor may have recommended a genetic counseling session. Approximately 5-10% of cancers have been linked to an inherited gene, higher in some specific types of cancer like ovarian cancer at 20%. Genetic testing will then help you and your physicians make medical decisions to proactively take steps to prevent or lower your cancer risk and complete appropriate screening to detect cancer early.

Genetic counseling may be advised if your personal or family history includes any of the following:

• 2 or more close/primary family members with the same or related forms of cancer

• Cancer diagnosed younger than age 50

• Bilateral or multiple primary cancers - more than one cancer type in a family member

• Ovarian cancer

• Pancreatic cancer

• Male breast cancer

• Triple-negative breast cancer

• Family history of a known gene mutation, including BRCA1 and MLH1

• Colon or endometrial tumors with abnormal MSI/IHC

• 10 or more gastrointestinal polyps

• Metastatic prostate cancer

What are the steps to complete cancer Genetic Testing?

You need a physician referral to have a genetic counseling consultation so visit with your oncologist, family medicine physician, or OBGYN.

Upon this referral, your genetic counseling session will be scheduled. Then someone from the team will be contacting you to collect family history information and obtain pertinent records for the visit. The most important thing to prepare is knowing your family history of cancer including your grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins on both sides of your family as well as your parents, siblings, and children. Write down who had cancer, what kind of cancer it was, and what was their age at being diagnosed.

You will come to the June E. Nylen Cancer Center for your genetic counseling appointment and meet virtually with the certified genetic counselor from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). The genetic counseling session will take 45 to 60 minutes. The certified genetic counselor will help you decide what tests might be right for you. Lab draws for testing will be done on-site the same day as your appointment.

Results take about 2 weeks, although there are a few specific tests that may take longer. Your genetic counselor will advise you about those.

What is the cost?

The certified genetic counselor can help determine what tests you are a candidate for and if you meet your insurance criteria for testing. Typically, if you decide to pursue testing, your tests, personal and family history information, and insurance card(s) are submitted and a complete insurance benefits investigation is completed. You will be contacted with your expected out-of-pocket costs.

There is a $150 out-of-pocket charge for the genetic counseling session (not covered by any insurance). It will be due on the day of your appointment. This is the all-inclusive cost for your consultation and follow-up session with the certified genetic counselor if you have positive results for hereditary cancer to discuss the results and implications of those results. These results will also be shared with your physician that ordered the genetic counseling/testing so you can put together a proactive plan. (If testing shows you are negative for hereditary cancer, you and your ordering physician will only be sent the results. A follow-up session with the genetic counselor is not needed.)

If the certified genetic counselor determines you should proceed with testing, a lab fee will be billed to your insurance. If you do not have insurance or are self-pay, you will speak to our Financial Navigator about the lab fee.

If any of your results includes a recommendation for family members to also be tested, they would need to schedule an appointment to first meet with our certified genetic counselor and would pay the $150 out-of-pocket fee for their counseling session.

What Do I Bring to My Genetic Counseling Session?

Please bring your insurance card with you and the required payment.

Meet Your Certified Genetic Counselors:

The June E. Nylen Cancer Center is grateful for funding from the Iowa Cancer Consortium’s FY22 Iowa Cancer Plan Implementation Grant, SCHEELS, donors to the Siouxland Big Give 2021, and other contributions that are helping us launch and expand this program.