Screening newborns for cancer risk

Per Harvard Gazette, researchers at Dana-Farber and Mass General Brigham found that genetic testing added to routine newborn screening could identify babies at high risk for cancer before symptoms appear. In a study of nearly two thousand children in Michigan who developed tumors by age eight, the team found that roughly seven percent carried genetic mutations linked to childhood cancer predisposition syndromes. If implemented nationwide, such screening could identify around one thousand children annually who would benefit from early intervention. The findings are most striking for certain cancers: nearly forty percent of children who later developed retinoblastoma, the most common childhood eye tumor, had a specific genetic mutation detectable at birth. These children typically showed signs of the disease at nine months old, compared to two years old for those without the mutation. Early detection through genetic screening at birth could catch these tumors months earlier, potentially avoiding intensive treatments like chemotherapy or eye removal.

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