Annual Report 2023
Department of Genetic Medicine and Services
Takeshi Kuwata, Katsuya Tsuchihara, Toru Mukohara, Kiwamu Akagi, Mitsuho Imai, Akiko Nakayama, Sachiyo Mimaki, Yumie Hiraoka, Kaori Kimura, Chikako Tomozawa, Miki Aitani, Kenichi Harano, Shingo Matsumoto, Kyoko Toju, Nobuyuki Nakamura, Yoshiko Onuma
Introduction
The Department of Genetic Medicine and Services was newly established in May 2016 to handle genetic as well as genomic testing and related issues, including genetic counseling, conducted in the National Cancer Center Hospital East (NCCHE).
The Team and What We Do
The aim of the Department of Genetic Medicine and Services is to deal with the following subjects:
1) Genetic counseling
2) Genetic/genomic testing
3) Ethical issues related to genetic/genomic medicine
4) Educating people on genetic/genomic medicine
5) Regulating the storage and usage of genetic/genomic information
6) Other matters related to genetic/genomic medicine
Accordingly, members of the department with various specialties were assembled, including medical doctors, nurses, genetic counselors and medical technicians from different clinical departments or research laboratories.
To conduct precision oncology, our hospital is designated as a Cancer Genome Medical Core Hospital in Japan and cooperates with 11 affiliated hospitals, especially for providing cancer genome profiling (CGP) tests. Under the national health care services, by March 2024, we performed 323 CGP tests and conducted expert panels for 309 patients, including 497 patients in affiliated hospitals (Figure 1).
The Outpatient Genetic Counseling Clinic provides genetic counseling and genetic testing for cancer patients and their relatives with a familial history and/or specific features suspected for familial cancers. From April 2023 to March 2024, 148 new clients visited the clinic, and a total of 308 genetic counseling sessions were held and 83 genetic testing sessions were provided. Consequently, by March 2024, a total of 853 clients had visited the clinic (Figures 2 and 3).
Fig 1. Number of CGP cases reviewed in expert panels 
Fig 2. Number of genetic counseling sessions provided 
Fig 3. Breakdown of genetic counseling sessions (N=148)
Research Activities
Our Outpatient Genetic Counseling Clinic is participating in an observational study to evaluate the utility of confirmation of germline mutations in patients with solid tumors and relatives (BRANCH study, UMIN000046085), and provides genetic testing.
Clinical Trials
Our Outpatient Genetic Counseling Clinic supports and provides genetic counseling for patients willing to participate in clinical trials where genetic tests are required.
Education
We educated medical doctors wishing to become board-certified geneticists by attending the Outpatient Genetic Counseling Clinic. We have also provided intramural educational seminars for medical doctors and medical staff to familiarize them with genetic and genomic medicine and provide precision medicine for all cancer patients and their families visiting our hospital.
As a Cancer Genome Medical Core Hospital, we also provide seminars and lectures for educating doctors as well as medical staff working at affiliated hospitals.
Future Prospects
We will continue to provide genetic counseling and genetic testing for possible familial cancer patients/families. For precision oncology, we will conduct CGP tests under the national health care system and participate in several clinical trials using new technologies including whole genome/exome sequences. We will also continue to provide education programs for medical doctors and medical staff working in our hospital as well as affiliated hospitals. Our current aim is to establish a genomic testing pipeline from research to clinic to accelerate the development of medical and diagnostic devices for genome medicine.