Dr. Yurgelun Discusses Germline Testing in CRC

Matthew B. Yurgelun, MD, assistant professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and a researcher at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses germline testing in colorectal cancer (CRC).

Historically, germline testing has been recommended to any patient with CRC that has a strong family history or a significant amount of adenomas or polyps. But, there does not seem to be an indicator of which patients need germline testing, says Yurgelun, as questions are still being formulated as to who needs germline testing and who does not.

Yurgelun’s current recommendation is to test patients who have any evidence mismatch repair deficiency to suggest Lynch syndrome, a family history of poylps, or if they were diagnosed with CRC before the age of 50.