Harnessing the potential of cancer genetics in healthcare.

Abstract

The advancement of knowledge in genetics will have a profound effect on prediction, prevention, and treatment of cancer. It has the potential to offer more personalised healthcare that accords with an individual's genetic profile. However, the complex medical, ethical, legal, and psychosocial issues brought by our ability to test healthy individuals for cancer predisposition and the fast pace of advances in genetics pose great challenges to the medical community. Individuals and families are unlikely to benefit from an effective and ethical application of new genetic knowledge unless high quality cancer-genetics services are developed and integrated into mainstream healthcare, more research is undertaken into the prevention, causes, and treatment of cancer, and further efforts are made to improve public understanding and acceptance of cancer genetics.