Tumor gene detection is a technology that detects the DNA of tumor patients through tissues, blood, other body fluids or cells, and detects the DNA molecular information in patients' cells through special detection equipment, and analyzes various gene mutations contained in them, so as to tailor a set of most suitable treatment schemes for each patient, maximize the treatment efficiency, reduce the toxic and side effects of drugs, and avoid delaying the treatment opportunity due to improper medication.
In the hospital, doctors are constantly "educating" patients, hoping to help patients choose drugs and treatments accurately through the latest and most scientific genetic testing methods, thus improving their quality of life and life cycle.
Theoretically, genetic testing can help us understand the risks we may face and help to prevent and treat cancer, because many tumor cells are accompanied by characteristic genetic variation.
But for most ordinary people, it is not necessary to carry out cancer genetic testing for prevention, which is not very helpful.
Among the known cancers, only 5% ~ 10% is caused by internal factors such as genetic factors; Moreover, for this 5% ~ 10% cancer, what preventive genetic testing can really tell us is very limited.
Genetic testing can only tell us whether there is a genetic variation related to cancer. Yes, it doesn't necessarily mean that you will have cancer; No, it doesn't mean you won't get cancer.
Even if the risk is as high as 80%, you can't be sure whether you will really get cancer. Without professional interpretation and further medical intervention, this test result will only bring you unnecessary panic.
But if you don't come out, can you stop paying attention to health? You know, cancer is closely related to unhealthy lifestyles.
After spending so much money, the final conclusion is still a variety of question marks. Is this answer worth it?
So genetic testing is worthless?
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For people with high incidence of cancer with obvious family genetic characteristics, preventive genetic testing may help these people to take countermeasures earlier and reduce the risk of cancer.
So, before you decide to do genetic testing, you might as well talk to a qualified clinician and find out the following questions:
Have you personally or your family been diagnosed with cancer? Are these cancers related to some genetic variations?
Were you diagnosed with some kind of cancer when you were young? Cancer in young people may be related to genetic variation.
Have your family members (especially immediate family members) been found to carry cancer-related mutant genes (such as BRCA 1)?
If harmful mutant genes are detected, can intervention measures be taken to reduce the risk of cancer?
Only by understanding these problems can we better decide whether it is necessary to carry out preventive genetic testing.
Speaking of which, many people may think of Angelina Jolie, a well-known movie star.
Julie's two family members (grandmother and mother) both died of breast cancer, and she belongs to the above-mentioned high-risk group with obvious family genetic characteristics. The results of genetic test also suggest that she carries the high-risk BRCA 1 mutant gene. According to the doctor's estimate, Julie's risk of breast cancer is 87%, and the risk of ovarian cancer is 50%. Subsequently, Julie underwent preventive surgery and successively removed her breasts and ovaries.
Therefore, before preparing for preventive cancer genetic testing, we must fully understand our family history, communicate with professionals, and understand what genetic testing can bring to us and whether it is really necessary.
Attention! Not all genetic tests are unnecessary.
There are many kinds of genetic testing, and the "preventive cancer genetic testing" mentioned earlier is just one of them. For cancer patients who have been diagnosed, doctors sometimes carry out genetic testing on their cancer cells.
These genetic tests are aimed at cancer patients who have been diagnosed. For more accurate treatment, they need to be carried out under the guidance of doctors. They are completely different from those genetic tests for preventing cancer in healthy people on the market.
Such genetic testing can help doctors locate the mutant genes of tumors, provide necessary information for individualized and precise medication, and improve the therapeutic effect.
Especially when targeted drugs are used to treat cancer, because targeted drugs are only effective for some cancers with gene mutation, blind taking will not only increase the economic burden of patients, but also interfere with medication and delay the best treatment opportunity, so patients must take drugs after genetic testing.
But again, this genetic test is not a preventive genetic test on the market.
Don't believe that once and for all, no technology can predict N kinds of cancers by scraping in your mouth.
If you are worried about the risk of cancer, you should pay attention to a healthy life and check it regularly ~