Table 1.

Criteria for the Practical Translation of Genetic Testing to Clinical Practice

Ease of mutation detection (for review, see Eng and Vijg 1997)
 high sensitivity
 no false negatives (100% specificity)
 high throughput, i.e., turnaround time consistent with that of a routine clinical   laboratory
 user friendly
 inexpensive (no more than $150/sample/whole gene)
Majority of mutations in single gene, preferably within a few exons
Ability to predict cancer risk from mutation data
Ability to offer effective surveillance or prophylactic procedure