MyRisk testing analyzes what type of genetic material?

• A. Tumor DNA
• B. Germline DNA
• C. Mitochondrial DNA
• D. RNA

Answer: (B)

MyRisk testing analyzes germline DNA, the inherited genetic material found in every cell and passed from parents to offspring. This type of DNA is typically obtained from blood or saliva and is used to identify pathogenic variants in cancer predisposition genes that can be inherited within a family. It’s different from tumor DNA, which comes from cancer tissue and reflects somatic mutations specific to that tumor rather than inherited risk. Mitochondrial DNA is a separate genome with its own inheritance pattern and is not the target of this hereditary cancer risk panel. RNA isn’t used for this DNA-based test, since the information the panel looks for is in the DNA sequence itself. So, the test is designed to assess inherited cancer risk by examining germline DNA.