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Patient-centered integration of tumor and germline genetic results can improve cancer care

Germline sequencing should be integrated with somatic testing of cancers to provide a comprehensive genetic assessment of disease.

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Fig. 1: Models for reporting somatic and germline results.

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Acknowledgements

We thank US National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative, the Participant Engagement and Cancer Genome Sequencing Network, and our patients and families.

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Correspondence to Alanna J. Church.

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Competing interests

A.J.C. serves as a consultant for Bayer. H.J.L. serves on the advisory board for Fulgent. H.H. serves on the scientific advisory board for Exact Sciences (PreventionGenetics) and Lynsight, serves as a consultant for GI OnDemand, and holds stock in Genome Medical and GI OnDemand.

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Church, A.J., Bhattacharyya, O., Culver, J.O. et al. Patient-centered integration of tumor and germline genetic results can improve cancer care. Nat Med (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-03686-8

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