FAQ

Cancer is a genetic disease. The occurrence and development of cancer are related to abnormal changes in genes. People who are born with abnormal/defective genes are more likely to develop hereditary cancer.

Genetic testing for hereditary cancers is a test that lasts a lifetime. As research advances and new susceptibility genes are discovered, individuals can be retested to obtain more comprehensive information.

Cancer patients, especially those whose cancer is diagnosed at unusually young age, or those whose cancer occurs on both sides of a paired organ, such as both kidneys and breasts. People with a family history of cancer, especially where multiple close relatives have the same type of cancer (e.g., mother, daughter, sister with breast cancer). Patients with birth defects associated with inherited cancer syndromes, such as benign skin abnormalities or bone deformities.

Being diagnosed with an inherited cancer susceptibility gene does not necessarily lead to cancer, but the risk is higher than in people without the susceptibility.

A: At present, the research on the genetic factors of liver cancer and lung cancer is not very clear, and these cancers are more strongly associated with lifestyle and environmental factors. It is not ruled out that new disease-causing genes will be discovered with the development of research.

Important genes that regulate cell growth have undergone abnormal changes, such as mutation, amplification, rearrangement, etc., thus leading to the activation of proto-oncogenes or the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes.

The driver genes of different cancers are not necessarily the same. Taking non-small cell lung cancer as an example, its common driver genes are EGFR, ALK, HER2, MET, RET, ROS1, BRAF and KRAS.

A: Factors such as genes, age, gender, weight, health status, liver and kidney functions can all affect an individual’s response to drugs. However, extensive studies have shown that genetic polymorphisms, (i.e.,) differences in genes, play a decisive role. Regarding drug metabolism, genetic variations result in different metabolic rates among individuals. For the same drug, fast metabolizers may fail to absorb the active ingredients of the drug in a timely manner, resulting in poor treatment effect; while slow metabolizers may have serious adverse drug effects due to drug accumulation in the body.

A: Allergic drug reaction is an adverse drug reaction. Drugs are considered “foreign substances” to the human body, which possesses an innate ability to respond to them as a self-defense mechanism. However, if this reaction exceeds a certain limit, it will cause harm to the body; allergic reaction is an excessive reaction of the body to a drug, which is essentially a type of immune response.

A: A pharmacogenomic test report can be used for clinical reference, but cannot be used as the sole basis for clinical diagnosis. It is recommended to use drugs under the guidance of doctors or pharmacists. This is because although genes have an important impact on the efficacy and adverse reactions of drugs, the actual clinical situation is much more complicated; other factors, such as the subject’s age, gender, weight, health status, liver and kidney functions, pathological conditions of the disease, comorbidities, and the presence or absence of concomitant medication can all affect the results of clinical medication.

 You can test anytime, but the sooner the better. Because the gene is the biological “identity card” of the human body, it will not change throughout one’s life. The sooner subjects are tested, the sooner they can obtain individualized drug regimens, so that more effective drugs can be selected and serious adverse reactions can be avoided.

Because there is no reliable research published on the efficacy, side-effects and drug-gene correlation of the drug.

This is possible. There are many factors that affect an individual’s response to drugs, including genetic and non-genetic factors. Non-genetic factors mainly include age, gender, race, body weight, psychological state, pathophysiological state, concomitant medication, etc. Genetic factors mainly include genetic polymorphisms of drug metabolizing enzymes, drug transporters, drug targets (receptors, ion channels, etc.). Although studies have found that genetic factors are the main factor influencing individual differences in drugs, non-genetic factors also play a role.