Understanding the difference between a screening test and a diagnostic test — for breast cancer, for example — can help you make better decisions about your health. This video explains how the two categories of tests vary.
Hepatitis C is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). HCV is spread through contact with blood from an infected person. For more than half of people who become infected with HCV it becomes a long-term, chronic infection.
A mammogram is a screening test that uses X-rays to visualize the tissue inside the breast. An abnormal finding on the mammogram should be confirmed by a diagnostic test, which may include additional imaging and/or a biopsy.
A molecular test looks for changes in DNA and/or RNA that provide information about your health. This video and PDF are about the process and the professionals who do molecular testing.
DNA is “sequenced” when a molecular professional uses specialized machines and laboratory techniques to “read” the bases along the DNA strand. Depending on the unique case for each person, and the specific type of testing being performed, either small specific sections of DNA can be sequenced or all the DNA (the entire genome) can be sequenced in pieces.
DNA sequencing in cancer is a way to look closely at the genetic instructions inside cancer cells to find changes or mutations that may be causing the cancer to grow.
Whole-genome sequencing reads all of a person’s DNA — like scanning an entire instruction manual — to find changes that might explain a disease or help guide treatment.
