The Hirshberg Foundation hosted an interactive Zoom webinar with genetic counselor Wendy Conlon to discuss how knowing your family history and your genetic makeup can affect medical care for you and your loved ones.

As part of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and in preparation for the holidays, we offered an interactive Zoom webinar with Wendy Conlon, MS, CGC to discuss genetic testing for individuals and families dealing with pancreatic cancer. This event, perfect for those with a family history of pancreatic cancer or those who have questions for a genetic counselor, addressed how knowing your family history and your genetic makeup can affect medical care options for you and your loved ones.

Wendy began with a brief overview about genetic counseling and testing, what it entails and how to find a counselor. Then we opened the floor so Wendy could answer questions from how to get genetic testing to high-risk pancreas screenings to how these results can impact future health decisions.

You can listen to Wendy Conlon, MS, CGC genetic counselor with UCLA Health’s Cancer Genetics Program, discuss the benefits and implications of genetic counseling and testing for you and your family. If you have a personal or family history of pancreatic cancer or other cancers, genetic counseling and testing may help you make decisions about your medical care and allow access to different, more precise, options for medical management. We discussed how family history alone can change recommendations for screening and surveillance even in the absence of an inherited gene mutation. Wendy addressed the difference between genetic testing for inherited gene mutations versus genetic testing done on a tumor or cancer tissue specimen, and how that can impact your treatment options.

Learn more about Wendy and the UCLA Health cancer genetic program.

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