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« When we first diagnosed Griffin’s cancer, » Dr. Alderman said, « the presentation was unusual enough for his age that standard practice required genetic testing, to check for underlying hereditary syndromes that might explain it. That testing takes considerably longer to process than the initial cancer treatment itself, so results only came back three weeks ago. »
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« What did they find? » I asked.
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« Griffin carries a mutation associated with Li-Fraumeni syndrome, » she said. « It’s a hereditary condition that significantly increases lifetime risk for multiple cancers, not just a recurrence of what we just successfully treated. We’re talking about a considerably elevated risk profile for the rest of his life — sarcomas, breast cancer, brain tumors, several others, often appearing at younger ages than typical. »
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I sat with that for a long moment, the relief from an hour earlier curdling into something considerably more complicated.
