As screening technology improves, Columbus-area doctors say more patients are undergoing testing to see if they have an elevated risk of developing the disease.
Kathy Lynn Gray
| Columbus CEO
Ovarian cancer has upended Brooke Lane’s life.
But for her mother, Sharon Shealy, Lane’s diagnosis and subsequent genetic cancer testing has been a lifesaver—literally.
That speaks to the power of such testing, says genetics counselor Leigha Senter.
In 2018, Lane was a 35-year-old living in Bucyrus with her husband and two boys when she learned she had stage 3 ovarian cancer, often called the silent killer because its symptoms are vague. To help guide her treatment, Dr. Floortje Backes at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, recommended screening to determine if the cancer was genetically linked.
Lane tested positive for the BRCA1 (breast cancer gene 1) mutation, putting her at elevated risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Family members were tested and one—her mother—had the mutation, too.
As a precaution, Shealy, of Cairo, Ohio, had a hysterectomy, and her surgeon found a hidden cancerous tumor. “She had no symptoms,” Lane says. “They would never have caught it if we hadn’t done the genetic testing. The genetic testing saved her.”
According to the National Cancer Institute, about 10 percent of all cancers are believed to be caused by an inherited gene mutation. But the risk is higher for certain cancers. That includes ovarian cancers, which are hereditary 10 percent to 15 percent of the time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.
When it first became available in the mid-1990s, genetic testing was reserved for individuals and families at high risk, says Senter, interim division director of human genetics at the OSUCCC – James.
Even as late as 2007, the testing was mostly available only on the genes that carry the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, says Nichole Morman, manager of genetic counseling at OhioHealth. Today, thanks to improved technology, 80 to 100 genes can be examined with one blood or saliva sample. In addition to breast and ovarian, cancers linked to hereditary mutations include colon, pancreatic, prostate, thyroid and stomach.
Any adult can seek genetic testing but Morman particularly recommends it for anyone with a rare cancer or a cancer diagnosis before age 50, as well as for individuals who have multiple family members with cancer. It’s offered online and at area medical facilities, including The James and OhioHealth.
Genetic counseling can happen before or after testing, or both, Senter says, depending on the circumstances. Beforehand, a counselor gathers a patient’s family history of cancer, explains what the tests can reveal and evaluates whether testing might be beneficial. After testing, a counselor interprets and explains the results.
Those fall into three basic categories, according to the National Cancer Institute. A positive result means a gene mutation that increases the risk of cancer was found. A negative result means no harmful mutations were found. A variant of uncertain significance (VUS) means a variation was detected, but it is unclear whether it increases cancer risk.
If a positive result occurs for someone without cancer, a genetic counselor can suggest ways to manage risk. Those might include increased screenings, screening at an earlier-than-normal age, medication, lifestyle changes and, in some cases, surgery. “It doesn’t mean that person was born with cancer,” Senter says. “But they have a higher likelihood of getting cancer.”
Senter might also suggest other family members be tested. “Once we have a test result, it becomes the patient’s job to share that with their relatives,” she says.
When a VUS result is identified, a patient should keep in touch with the test provider in case the result is reclassified as a cancer risk in the future, the institute advises.
Dr. Hiral Shah, an oncologist at Zangmeister Cancer Center in Columbus, says that while genetic testing can cause stress and anxiety, patients are generally receptive. “It gives you a lot more information to make the best medical and lifestyle decision for yourself and for other family members,” she says. “And if you test negative, it brings a lot of relief from uncertainty.”
But she cautions, “A negative result doesn’t mean you can keep smoking your cigarettes and you won’t get cancer, and a positive result doesn’t mean you’ll get cancer.”
A physician referral usually isn’t necessary for genetic testing, Morman says, but health insurance may not cover it. To make it more accessible, OhioHealth has a flat self-pay rate of $250. Online tests can be purchased for about $300.
Senter says Ohio State’s self-pay rate also is $250, but qualifying for financial assistance can reduce the cost.
Shah expects cancer testing to improve as more genes can be tested, and risks identified. But she doesn’t expect it to become a regular part of everyone’s medical screening because hereditary cancers are still in the minority. “My hope is that it’ll lead to more early detection and a better survival rate,” she says. “And as more people become comfortable with genetic testing, we’ll see more people get tested.”
To help gauge an individual’s cancer risk, Ohio State has a free tool online at familyhealthriskcalculator.osumc.edu. Participants provide personal and family health histories that guide results.
As for Lane, she fought cancer again in 2024, this time in her liver. After surgery and six rounds of chemotherapy, a scan completed in May 2025 showed no evidence of cancer. Her mother has had no reoccurrences.
“I’m happy to share my experience to raise awareness,” Lane says. “My advice is, if you’re at risk, do the genetic testing. It saved my mom’s life. And my boys will be tested when they’re 18, because they’re at greater risk for breast cancer.”
Lane understands the test can be scary. “But information is helpful, even if it’s not the information you want,” she says. “The only thing worse than knowing you have cancer is having it and not knowing you have it.”
Kathy Lynn Gray is a freelance writer.
This story appears in the September 2025 issue of Columbus CEO. Subscribe now.