Overview

The benefits of genetic testing depend on a person's situation. Genetic testing is not appropriate for everyone. Genetic testing:

• improves understanding about cancer risk to guide medical decisions about the best way to manage their risk
• provides information to help people who have been diagnosed with cancer make treatment decisions, including treatment with targeted therapies
• affects eligibility for some clinical trials and research studies
• helps your relatives understand and manage their risk for cancer

The best way to decide if your cancer or the cancer in your family is caused by an inherited mutation is to consult with a genetics expert. 

Who should consider genetic testing?

Visit these pages to learn more about genetic testing for the following people with a personal or family history of cancer:

• women with ovarian cancer
• women with breast cancer
• people with metastatic breast cancer
• men with breast cancer
• men with prostate cancer
• people with pancreatic cancer
• people with relatives who have tested positive for a gene mutation
• people from families with rare or young-onset cancers or multiple cases of cancer
• people who are Jewish or have Jewish ancestry

Additional support and resources

For more resources, visit our "Should I Get Genetic Testing?" or sign up for our Peer Navigation Program to get one-to-one support as you make your decsions around genetic testing.

Updated 03/12/2019