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Cancer Predisposition Genes in Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs): a Review Paper from the Italian AYA Working Group.

Angela TossPaola QuarelloMaurizio MascarinGiuseppe Luigi BannaMarco ZeccaSaverio CinieriFedro Alessandro PeccatoriAndrea Ferrari
Published in: Current oncology reports (2022)
AYAs with cancer represent a particular group of patients with specific challenging characteristics and yet unmet needs. A significant percentage of AYA patients carry pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants (PV/LPVs) in cancer predisposition genes. Nevertheless, knowledge on spectrum, frequency, and clinical implications of germline variants in AYAs with solid tumors is limited. The identification of PV/LPV in AYA is especially critical given the need for appropriate communicative strategies, risk of second primary cancers, need for personalized long-term surveillance, potential reproductive implications, and cascade testing of at-risk family members. Moreover, these gene alterations may potentially provide novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets that are lacking in AYA patients. Among young adults with early-onset phenotypes of malignancies typically presenting at later ages, the increased prevalence of germline PV/LPVs supports a role for genetic counseling and testing irrespective of tumor type.
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