MEDCAC Meeting 5/1/2013 - Genetic Tests for Cancer Diagnosis

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Issue

The Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health and Society (SACGHS) has defined genetic testing as "…any test performed using molecular biology methods to test DNA or RNA, including germline, heritable, and acquired somatic variations." CMS has commissioned technology assessments (TAs) on two types of genetic tests. The first TA examined DNA- or RNA-based tests which are likely to predict the tissue of origin in patients presenting with a cancer of unknown primary site (CUP). The second TA examined fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) tests for cancer/pre-cancer in patients with atypical squamous cells of unknown significance (ASCUS) or low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) in cytological specimens from the uterine cervix.
CMS will convene the panel to consider the evidence about these two types of genetic tests for cancer diagnosis.