Athanasios Kotsakis, Filippos Koinis, Invited Speakers

Face to face and distant learning.

MS Power point.

The purpose of this class is to introduce the principles of clinical management of familial and hereditary cancer. Specifically, students will be taught basic principles of human genetics and genetic counseling. The basic principles of cancer genetics and heredity will be presented and the most common syndromes predisposing to the development of cancer will be discussed. Also, students will be taught the basic principles of risk management for people with cancer and their healthy relatives, but also how to manage the psychological impact that a diagnosis of a syndrome that predisposes to cancer can have.

Upon successful completion of the course, the student will:

•  describe the molecular basis of the syndromes that predispose to cancer.
• comprehend the basic principles of genetic epidemiology and genetic analysis technologies.
• be able to obtain a complete personal and family cancer history and draw the family tree.
• know the main syndromes that predispose to solid and pediatric cancers and the genes that should be examined according to individual and family history.
• understand the basic principles of genetic counseling for syndromes that predispose to cancer.
• be familiar the cancer screening tests and their limitations.
• be able to recommend the appropriate interventions to manage the risk, based on the result of the genetic test.
• recognize the different treatment options for patients with hereditary cancer.

1. Principles of human genetics, methods of genetic analysis (2 hours)
2. Genetic epidemiology and cancer screening (2 hours)
3. Genetic counseling for syndromes that predispose to cancer (2 hours).
4. Familial and hereditary ovarian and breast cancer: risk assessment and management (2 hours).
5. Management of hereditary breast & ovarian cancer (2 hours)
6. Clinical approach to polyposis and hereditary gastric cancer (2 hours).
7. Lynch syndrome: diagnosis, prevention and treatment (2 hours).
8. Management of hereditary pancreatic cancer and melanoma (2 hours).
9. Therapeutic approaches to patients with hereditary urinary tract cancer syndromes (2 hours).
10. Endocrine neoplasia syndromes (2 hours).
11. Pediatric cancer syndromes (2 hours).
12. Clinical exercise I (2 hours).
13. Clinical exercise II (2 hours).

Students will be provided with notes, journal articles and presentation slides.