Future Participants

Are you considering participating in the CASCADE study?

About the study

  • The CASCADE study aims to increase our knowledge about how genetic services (counseling and testing) in Switzerland can help families manage hereditary cancer risk.
  • Information about the study can be found here.

Who can participate?

  • Women and men with a known genetic variant connected to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer or «Lynch syndrome».
  • Individuals older than 18 years.
  • Must reside in Switzerland.

Procedure for joining the study

If you are interested to learn more about the study, we will send you detailed information by e-mail. After we confirm your eligibility to participate, we will send you the Consent Form by post (including the return envelope). Once we receive the signed consent form, you are enrolled in the study.

Participation in the CASCADE study is divided into several steps:

First step:
You will receive a questionnaire, which can be filled out either online or in paper form. We ask about your health history and your experience with genetic testing. The questionnaire takes about 45 minutes to complete. This first questionnaire is a required part of study participation.

Second step:
You can choose if you want to invite your relatives to also participate in the study. Communication with your relatives will be only from you, not from the research team. Your relatives who choose to participate will also fill out a questionnaire.

Third step:
You can also choose to participate in an interview or group discussion about various topics, including decisions to manage cancer risk or your opinion of digital tools to find health-related information and communicate with others in your family about genetic results. We will inform you about the topic of the discussion beforehand, so that you can decide whether or not you are interested.

Fourth step:
You can also choose, if you want, to complete follow-up questionnaires every 24 months over a 10-year period. These questionnaires ask about your health and cancer screening. The questionnaires can be filled out either online or on paper.

We would be very pleased with your participation in the study. The information that you share is very important and will help us improve the services we provide to families with hereditary cancer risk.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone (061 207 59 85) or e-mail (swisscascade-nursing@unibas.ch).