What motivates interest in attending a familial cancer genetics clinic?

The motivation of people who seek advice about a family history of cancer was explored in a cross sectional study of new cancer referrals to five regional cancer genetics centres in England: the PACT (patient and clinical team) psychosocial study. One hundred sixty-two people took part. Measures were source of referral, estimated and perceived cancer risk, level of cancer worry, and personal and family-centred reasons for wanting to be seen in clinic. General practitioners referred more people than hospital doctors, and referred a larger proportion of people at low genetic risk of developing cancer. More than half of the participants had been the first to raise the issue of their family history of cancer. Personal motivation for referral is clearly different for those who have had a diagnosis of cancer and for those with children, compared to unaffected and childless people, and is characterised by altruistic concern for other family members rather than a perception of increased personal risk. Men and people from ethnic minorities are very significantly under-represented. Understanding people's motivation may be useful in targeting genetic counselling for people with a family history of cancer.

Congenital non-syndromal sensorineural hearing impairment due to connexin 26 gene mutations--molecular and audiological findings

We screened DNA from 72 sibships and 138 sporadically affected individuals with congenital non-syndromal sensorineural hearing impairment (NSSNHI) for mutations in the 26 (CX26) gene. A total of 20 (27.8%) of the sibships and 11 (7.9%) of the sporadically affected individuals were homozygous or compound heterozygotes for CX26 mutations. A total of 11 (17.2%) of 64 individuals with severe and 30 (30%) of 100 with profound NSSNHI compared to eight (8.7%) of 92 persons with moderate and none (0%) of 19 individuals with mild hearing impairment were homozygous or compound heterozygotes for CX26 mutations (chi2 test, 3 df, P = 0.000). CX26 mutation status bad no effect on the symmetry of the hearing impairment or configuration of the audiogram. In addition, serial audiograms showed no evidence of progression of the hearing impairment or differences in the severity of the hearing impairment in affected siblings in persons whether or not due to CX26 mutations. Sporadically affected individuals with congenital NSSNHI should be routinely tested for mutations in CX26, especially if the hearing impairment is severe or profound in severity, since identification of a mutation in CX26 allows use of Mendelian recurrence risks.