Though only age 38, Nicholas Lumi recently underwent a colonoscopy to search for the presence of polyps or evidence of cancer.

Lumi, of Nazareth, doesn’t have any symptoms of colon cancer, nor a family history of it, yet he underwent the colonoscopy because a special blood test, offered at no cost via a St. Luke’s community health research study called DNA Answers. The test found he carries a gene variant, or mutation, in one of the genes associated with Lynch syndrome.

Lynch syndrome is an inherited condition in which there is an increased risk for developing different types of cancer, most notably colorectal cancer. The lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer in the general population is about 5%, but with this syndrome it jumps to 40% to 60% for women, and 60% to 80% for men, with cancer often presenting in people less than 50 years old.

In December, St. Luke’s launched the community health research study, DNA Answers, in partnership with Helix Inc., a California-based leader in population genomics. One of the goals of this joint initiative is to offer, at no cost to the participants, the opportunity to participate in research and have access to the latest screening techniques that support what is commonly referred to as “precision medicine.”

“Through insights gleaned from patients’ unique genetic makeup, precision medicine enables ‘individually tailored’ health care from early disease diagnosis to individualized treatment,” said St. Luke’s Dr. Aldo Carmona, senior vice president of Clinical Integration.

Principal investigator for DNA Answers, Dr. Christopher Chapman, chairman of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and medical director for Precision Medicine at St. Luke’s, noted, “The individuals who participate in the research study will be provided, at no cost, with important health information about their potential risks for serious health conditions, such as certain types of cardiovascular disease and different types of cancer, thereby allowing them to make proactive decisions in conjunction with their health care providers to potentially delay or even prevent these conditions from occurring later in life.”

Learning that he carries a gene variant associated with Lynch Syndrome, Lumi recounted, “It was a surprise to me, and I’m glad I took the blood test, because now I can do something to try to prevent the cancer from developing or have it treated more precisely if I’m found to have it.”

Within two days of receiving his test results, Lumi had an initial counseling session with Monica Dillon, a member of St. Luke’s certified genetic counseling team. Shortly thereafter, his colonoscopy was performed by GI specialist Dr. Robert Malcolm, of St. Luke’s Gastroenterology at St. Luke’s Monroe Campus.

“Both Monica and Dr. Malcolm were fantastic — truly — they were concise, informative and thorough. Dr. Malcolm explained that Lynch syndrome cancers may develop quickly from benign polyps to precancerous polyps to invasive cancer, so I will have a colonoscopy yearly for the next several years at least, before spreading them out, as well as upper endoscopy every two years,” Lumi explained. “I cannot say enough about how well Dr. Malcolm explained and addressed my concerns; it gave me a great sense of confidence with what our management plan was for moving forward.”

To learn more about St. Luke’s community research study, DNA Answers, visit www.DNAanswers.org.

New program

St. Luke’s University Health Network is excited to launch a new community health research program called DNA Answers, with our partners at Helix, a leading population genomics company.

DNA Answers aims to understand how providing individuals and their health care providers with more information about their DNA can help improve health care for individuals, families, and communities and support new research discoveries.

With our goal to reach 100,000 participants, we are excited to report that all St. Luke’s employees, patients and community members age 18 and older, who have not had a donor bone marrow or donor stem cell transplant, are now eligible to receive no-cost DNA screening by participating in DNA Answers.

Health insurance is not required to participate.

To learn more, go to: www.DNAanswers.org.

Please direct any inquiries or questions about this program to our DNA Answers Study Team on the website, email DNAanswers@sluhn.org or call 484-658-6300.