Testing a sample of blood (or another fluid or tissue) for evidence of a gene. The evidence can be biochemical, chromosomal, or genetic. The aim is to learn whether a gene for a disease is present or absent.

An educational counseling process for individuals and families who have a genetic disease or who are at risk for such a disease. Genetic counseling is designed to provide patients and their families with information about their condition and help them make informed decisions.

Tests done for clinical genetic purposes. Genetic tests may be done for diverse purposes pertaining to clinical genetics, including the diagnosis of genetic disease in children and adults; the identification of future disease risks; the prediction of drug responses; and the detection of risks of disease to future children.

A measure of how abnormal in appearance cancer cells are, graded 1-3. Some cancers are very similar from one cell to another, while others are quite variable and may have very bizarre shapes, and have very large nuclei. The more abnormally appearing cancers have a higher “grade”, and typically these higher grade cancers may be more aggressive than lower grade cancers.
It is easy to confuse “grade” with “stage”, but they are completely different. The grade of a cancer is a single factor among many characteristics that describe the cancer cells. In terms of determining what treatment combination should be used for each patient, the stage of the cancer is more significant.