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Unraveling Genetic Links in Pediatric Cancer · Talking FACS

• 0:01
  Welcome to Talking FACS, and thank you for tuning in to Cancer Conversations
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  on Talking FACS, a podcast collaboration between the University of Kentucky
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  Markey Cancer Center and the UK Martin Gatton College of Agriculture,
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  Food, and Environment's Cooperative Extension Service.
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  We will share with you the latest developments in cancer prevention,
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  diagnosis, treatment, and research from the experts at Markey Cancer Center,
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  Kentucky's only National Cancer Institute Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center.
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  Talking FACS is hosted by the UK Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
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  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
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  and communities to improve quality of life.
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  Hello, and welcome to Cancer Conversations on Talking FACS.
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  This is your host, Dr. Jennifer Hunter, Assistant Extension Director,
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  supporting Family and Consumer Sciences.
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  Today, I'm pleased to be joined by Dr. Amanda Harrington with the UK Children's Hospital.
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  Dr. Harrington is the medical director of the Pediatric and Young Adult Cancer
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  Predisposition Clinic.
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  Welcome, Dr. Harrington. Hi, thank you for having me.
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  So, Amanda, as I was sharing your title there, that is a lot of words put together.
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  So, the Pediatric Young Adult Cancer Predisposition Clinic.
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  And I want to start with our first question today by explaining what does all
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  of that mean and the role of the clinic here at the University of Kentucky.
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  Sure, thank you. So I am a pediatric hematologist oncologist.
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  I take care of patients with blood problems and with cancers.
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  And a special part of of my job that I really enjoy is running this clinic.
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  So this clinic is for patients who either have had a pediatric cancer or who
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  have a genetic risk to develop cancers in their lifetime.
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  So when you say genetic risk, can you define some of those or share what some
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  of those genetic risks may be?
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  Sure. There are some people who come to us and say, hey, we just have a lot of cancer in our family.
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  My mom's had breast cancer. My grandmother's had colon cancer.
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  My grandfather's had cancer.
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  And so it starts to kind of, the pieces start to get put together and think,
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  hey, maybe there's actually something that runs in the family that puts you
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  at increased risk for developing cancer.
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  There are some genes that we know do that. And so we have ways to look for those and detect them.
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  And if we find that, in fact, you do have cancer that runs in your family,
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  there are things that we can do in clinic to help you screen for cancers and
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  try to prevent them in the future.
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  You talked some about the genetic link, but are there certain warning signs
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  or or symptoms that might spark some concern for parents?
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  Sure. A lot of it is about family history and really getting at what's been
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  going on with other members of your family.
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  So things that would kind of pique my interest would be, you know,
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  anybody who had cancer at a young age.
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  So that includes in childhood or even young adulthood.
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  So like a 30-year-old who gets breast cancer, that's still unusual.
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  That would be something worth paying attention to.
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  Numerous family members having cancer or even more than one family member with the same cancer,
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  you know, if colon cancer ran in a grandmother and in a great-grandmother or
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  in an aunt or an uncle, that's a clue that maybe there's a genetic link to this.
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  And then in terms of for kids themselves, I think the only other things to look
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  out for would be, sometimes they're associated with certain genetic syndromes.
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  And so if you know that your child's been diagnosed with, for example,
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  P10 hematoma syndrome is one that we see, those patients can be at increased
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  risk to develop cancers.
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  And so coming to see us, as well as their other doctors, can be important for
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  their medical care. If a parent is concerned, where should they start the conversation?
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  Do they reach out to their pediatrician first?
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  That's what I would recommend. I think it's always appropriate to bring up these
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  concerns with the physician who knows you and your family the best and start there.
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  And then if it seems like a referral is warranted, then usually the way those
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  go is that they They would get referred to a cancer geneticist who can help
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  continue that conversation and see if there's a genetic link in this family.
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  And you mentioned the link with certain syndromes, and so I'm going to make
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  an assumption that those children are often being seen regularly by a specialist.
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  Is it safe to assume that a specialist is well-informed about the predisposition
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  link and would automatically reach out to someone similar to your clinic,
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  or is it something that a parent may need to prompt or ask?
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  Yeah. I think it probably depends on where the specialist is.
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  If they're a part of our academic center, then I think our subspecialists know
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  about our clinic and know that available to help do the cancer screening part of their care.
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  Many of the community subspecialists may take on this screening themselves.
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  And so it'd be great for them to be able to know that we can help be part of that team.
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  As we wrap up today, one question I want to ask you is, and I don't know that
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  surveillance is the right word, but the benefits of surveillance or just having
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  regular check-ins with you or your clinic,
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  what is the benefit of that to a patient?
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  Sure. There were. We're still early as a medical community in understanding
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  a lot of genetic cancers.
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  They're the genetic linked to cancer and these cancer predisposition syndromes.
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  But we've known about several of them for long enough to show that screening
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  and surveillance really matters and can make a difference for a patient.
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  So things like regular doctor's visits, It's periodic ultrasounds or sometimes
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  CT scans, lab work can help detect cancers in their earliest stages when they
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  might be easier to treat.
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  And so there's a big benefit of trying to help improve these patients' lives
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  by detecting cancer early when it's more manageable.
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  Dr. Harrington, thank you so much for joining us today.
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  One of the things that I have really enjoyed about this podcast series is learning
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  about the different specialties and the different clinics that are available
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  at UK that can be a service to people across different communities and across the Commonwealth.
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  And so, thank you for bringing that awareness today. Thank you for having me.
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  Thank you for listening to Cancer Conversations on Talking FACS.
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  Our goal is to connect you with the latest advances in cancer research in the Commonwealth.
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  If you enjoyed today's podcast and have a suggestion for a future show topic,
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  please message us on the UK Markey Cancer Center Facebook page at facebook.com
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  forward slash UK Markey or visit our website at markey.uky.edu for more information.
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  You can find University of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension programs
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  at your local extension office or online at fcs.uky.edu.
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  Building strong families, building Kentucky.
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  Music.