Project Details

Polygenic risk scores (PRS) are increasingly being used in cancer screening. These are determined by looking at different gene expression patterns genome-wide that increase the risk of various cancers. This method holds considerable potential for cancer prevention - individualized screening and preventive measures can be planned and carried out on the basis of PRS, thus minimizing the risk of false-positive screening tests and overtreatment. This raises the question of the extent to which the general population is willing to undergo a PRS test and would then follow an individualized screening plan. Previous results indicate that the extension of screening intervals in particular could be poorly accepted in cases of low cancer risk (Tan et al., 2025). However, data from other countries also show that acceptance is higher if the information provided is clearly interpretable and if decisions about follow-up diagnostics are made on an equal footing between the patient and healthcare provider (Dunlop et al., 2023; Kelley-Jones et al., 2021). Healthcare providers are also more likely to consider risk-adapted screening to be effective if there are recommendations for communicating the results (Ayoub et al., 2023). To our knowledge, NACOP is the first German study on this topic to investigate the acceptance of PRS-based risk-adapted screening and suitable communication strategies.

Quellen/References:

Ayoub, A., Lapointe, J., Nabi, H., & Pashayan, N. (2023). Risk-Stratified Breast Cancer Screening Incorporating a Polygenic Risk Score: A Survey of UK General Practitioners’ Knowledge and Attitudes. Genes, 14(3), 732. doi.org/10.3390/genes14030732

Dunlop, K. L., Rankin, N. M., Smit, A. K., Newson, A. J., Keogh, L. A., & Cust, A. E. (2023). Views of the Australian public on the delivery of risk-stratified cancer screening in the population: A qualitative study. Public Health Research & Practice, 33(2), 32232213. doi.org/10.17061/phrp32232213

Kelley-Jones, C., Scott, S., & Waller, J. (2021). UK Women’s Views of the Concepts of Personalised Breast Cancer Risk Assessment and Risk-Stratified Breast Screening: A Qualitative Interview Study. Cancers, 13(22), 5813. doi.org/10.3390/cancers13225813

Tan, N. Q. P., Nargund, R. S., Douglas, E. E., Lopez-Olivo, M. A., Resong, P. J., Ishizawa, S., Nofal, S., Krause, K., Volk, R. J., & Toumazis, I. (2025). Acceptability and perceptions of personalised risk-based cancer screening among health-care professionals and the general public: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Public Health, 10(2), e85–e96. doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(24)00278-0