ACT-ON: Assisted cascade testing via outreach and navigation – Real-world experience with clinician-facilitated cascade testing

Abstract

Objectives

Cascade genetic testing is a pragmatic, high-impact strategy for cancer prevention; however, under the current patient-mediated model, only one-third of relatives complete testing. Clinician-facilitated cascade testing represents a promising alternative, though questions remain regarding scalability and effectiveness in real-world settings. We aimed to evaluate the outcomes of a real-world, clinician-facilitated cascade testing program.

Methods

We implemented a clinician-facilitated cascade testing program to contact, educate, and facilitate genetic testing for at-risk relatives. Probands from gynecologic oncology and cancer genetics clinics provided consent for direct relative contact for education on cascade testing and assistance with access to local or direct-to-consumer genetic counseling and testing services. Relatives were recontacted at six months for follow-up.

Results

From May 2023 to July 2025, 103 probands (median age 40 years; 87% female) identified 139 at-risk relatives. Of these, 91 (65%) relatives were successfully contacted and educated about the familial pathogenic variant (median age 45 years; 59% female) and 80 (88%) requested assistance with cascade testing. At six-month follow-up, 41 (77%) of relatives reached had completed genetic testing. On a follow-up survey, 100% of respondents reported that navigation support was integral to accessing testing and 68% indicated they would have been unlikely to pursue testing without clinician support.

Conclusions

In a real-world setting, clinician-facilitated cascade testing successfully contacted two-thirds of at-risk relatives, the majority of whom requested assistance with testing. These findings demonstrate the potential of clinician-facilitated navigation to overcome limitations of patient-mediated approaches and offer a scalable, patient-centered strategy for cancer prevention.