In the News

Last month’s news article was about genetic testing to detect increased risk of developing cancer. This month we will look at three advances in genetic testing in patients who already have cancer diagnosed.

A large international effort by more than 1,000 scientists has revealed scores of genetic markers that can identify people most likely to develop the diseases. In the future a relatively cheap test using saliva which contains cells and thus DNA could be used to identify individuals who are at higher than average risk for developing these diseases.

A non-invasive maternal blood test that can detect certain fetal chromosomal disorders, including Down syndrome, early in pregnancy is gaining attention as a potential new method of prenatal screening.

The Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (ADIPS) had previously set out guidelines for the testing and diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in 1991. However, as a result of the accumulation of more evidence about the incidence and effects of diabetes in pregnancy, ADIPS have revised the guidelines to reflect this new information.

A recent study performed in the ACT last year has looked at Australian patients' understanding of their pathology tests. The two main things that the study examined were patients' understanding of why they were having the tests and whether they had been offered a copy of their results.

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA is an ongoing problem in hospitals around the world. Standard infection control procedures use cultures of swabs from patients and comparison of the antibiotic resistance profile of the bacteria to see how related they are.