An Alabama genetic research institute said today it has screened the DNA of 4,200 Alabama men and women for cancer risk and found it in about 150 people or 3 percent.

More than half of that 150 have no strong family history of cancer, researchers at the HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology in Huntsville said today at the institutes annual Tie the Ribbons lunch supporting breast and ovarian cancer research.

The free and low-cost screening program called Information is Power is now entering its fifth year. The test was developed by genetic testing company Kailos Genetics and screens for the well-known BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes plus several others linked to breast, ovarian, colon and other cancers.

Researcher Sara Cooper said the lack of family history in positive test subjects is why this initiative is so important. Testing can fill the gaps in family history with facts, she said.

The screening is available free for men and women between the ages of 28 and 30 living in Madison, Jackson, Limestone, Marshall and Morgan County. Its available for $129 any other person 19 or older wishing to take it.

Cooper said genetic testing can also reveal risk of other medical issues beyond cancer, including cardiovascular disease. It can also help identify medications individuals might want to avoid given their genetic profile and dosage levels that are best for individual patients.

This work is part of a budding initiative at the institute, Cooper said, and it will launch in Alabama within the next year.

It took decades to identify the genes Americans are now tested for as risks, Cooper said. Even when we know what those genes are, we have to develop the technology to efficiently test people and find the changes in their DNA, she said.

There is still work to be done, she said. There are genes researchers havent found that contribute to cancer risk. There are new DNA changes discovered in genes already associated with cancer. These changes have uncertain significance, and HudsonAlpha is developing research techniques to determine whether those changes are meaningful.

The research were doing today lays the foundation for tomorrows success, Cooper said.

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DNA screening of 4,200 Alabamians warns them, helps science - AL.com

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