Table 1.

Characteristics of main examples of genetic results

	Breast cancer	Parkinson disease	Huntington disease
Genetic mutation	Autosomal, dominant mutation BRCA1 and BRCA2	Low penetrance, recessive, heterozygous mutations in the parkin gene (PRKN)	Autosomal, dominant mutation in the Huntingtin gene (htt). Monogenic disorder
Risk (of developing the disease due to the mutation)	Significantly increased risk of 38–87%	Slightly increased risk (3–7%)	High risk (100%)
Prevention possibilities	• Regularly precautionary medical check-ups • Precautionary mastectomy • Early recognition significantly increases the chances of complete recovery • Late recognition, in which metastases have formed in other body regions prohibits complete recovery	No preventive measures available	No preventive measures available
Treatment possibilities	• Surgery • Chemotherapy • Radiation • Hormone therapy	• Treatable symptoms. Measures to increase life quality	• Medication • Physiotherapy • Occupational therapy • Speech therapy
Disease onset	Earlier than without mutation	Adult onset at an average age of 60 years	Adult onset between 40 and 50 years
Cure	Sometimes possible	No cure	No cure. Premature death
Severity of the disease	Potentially lethal	Non-lethal	Lethal (premature death after 15–18 years after onset)