GeneDx, Gaithersburg, Md, a genetic testing laboratory and a subsidiary of Bio-Reference Laboratories Inc, plans to offer a suite of comprehensive genetic tests for inherited cancers including BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, given the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Association for Molecular Pathology vs Myriad Genetics case.

Gene DxThe company will offer a 27-gene panel for breast and ovarian cancers, and will also provide next generation sequencing-based multi-gene panels for gastrointestinal and colorectal cancers, pancreatic cancer, endometrial cancer, and renal cell carcinoma—noting it intends to introduce all of these panels as early as August 1.

“These panels will provide an efficient and cost-effective approach to identifying the genetic basis of inherited cancer,” says Sherri Bale, PhD, a founder and the managing director. “For breast/ovarian cancer particularly, it will be a more sensitive approach than testing only the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes alone.

“Over the past decade, research has identified many genes associated with hereditary cancers,” she says, adding that some of these genes play a role in more than one type of cancer, and in most types of cancer several genes may be characterized as causative. “Determining which genes and the order in which to test them can be complex, expensive, and time-consuming. GeneDx, therefore, has developed comprehensive panels to facilitate testing of all the important genes associated with inherited cancers in a manner that provides rapid and accurate results and at typically no additional cost when compared to testing for a single gene.”

[Source: Bio-Reference Laboratories]