Full-time, clinical cancer genetic counselor in Mid-Michigan
As a part of our mission to provide individualized cancer care to our patients, UM Health-Sparrow has the only full-time, clinical cancer genetic counselor in Mid-Michigan. Genetic counseling and testing is a major innovation in the field of cancer awareness, care, and treatment. Through a series of consultations, and possibly a simple blood or saliva sample, our team can evaluate if there are genetic markers in your DNA that may play a role in your risk for developing cancer or how your specific cancer should be treated. This information helps our genetic counselor work with our physicians to develop a cancer treatment or screening plan that is 100% custom to you.
As a part of our mission to provide individualized cancer care to our patients, UM Health-Sparrow has the only full-time, clinical cancer genetic counselor in Mid-Michigan. Genetic counseling and testing is a major innovation in the field of cancer awareness, care, and treatment. Through a series of consultations, and possibly a simple blood or saliva sample, our team can evaluate if there are genetic markers in your DNA that may play a role in your risk for developing cancer or how your specific cancer should be treated. This information helps our genetic counselor work with our physicians to develop a cancer treatment or screening plan that is 100% custom to you.
Meet Corrie Bourdon, the genetic counselor at Herbert-Herman Cancer Center, and learn about the work that she does.
“My big job is to meet with families, to go over a full family history to talk about the risk factors for cancer,” Bourdon says. “We know every family is different. Everyone’s genetics are different. Everyone’s risk factors are different. So people see me cause they’re worried there could be something in the family. They’re concerned for their kids and their grandkids.”
“What’s really exciting and why I love being a cancer genetic counselor is that we now are coming to the place where we understand cancer better,” she says. “We understand that all cancer has a genetic origin. Cancer is the cause of gene problems. And people who are born with a genetic problem have a higher risk to get cancer, but their cancer’s going to behave differently because it’s hereditary cancer, it’s not random cancer. Now we are getting smarter to specifically design treatments for those cancers that we never knew about before.”
Cancers with hereditary genetic links can include:
- Colon cancer and colon polyps
- Breast and ovarian cancer
- Gastric cancer
- Endocrine tumors and cancers (adrenal cancer, pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma, thyroid cancers)
- Renal cancer
- Melanoma
- Pancreatic cancer
- Sarcoma
- Additional rare cancers
When should you consider genetic counseling and testing?
- Family history of a cancer gene mutation (BRCA1/2, Lynch syndrome, ATM, CHEK2, etc.)
- Diagnosis of cancer at an earlier than average age (less than age 50 for common cancers like colon or breast cancer).
- More than one relative with the same or related cancers in the family.
- Individuals with more than one primary cancer.
- Individuals with rare or unusual cancers.
Learn more about how UM Health-Sparrow can offer you the best possible care.
Talk to your physician (Primary Care provider, OB/GYN, Oncologist) and review your family history to see if a referral makes sense. You can also give us a call at 517-364-9402, press prompt #2 - and we will get you the help you need.