[When is it necessary to refer a child with cancer to genetic counseling?]

In the past few years there is an emerging need for clinical genetics counseling in the case of malignant diseases as well. For these reasons a novel professional recommendation has been developed for oncogenetic counseling, whose publication is in progress. In nearly 10% of childhood cancers there is an underlying tumor predisposition syndrome, but this value is thought to be underestimated. Due to the treatment of these cancers and the risk of a possible new developing tumor, genetic counseling is strongly recommended in these children, to establish a correct diagnosis and to evaluate the tumor risk of family members. In this article we summarize the indication for genetic counseling referral in the case of childhood cancers, in which we especially have to pay attention to family anamnesis, the pathology of the tumor, multiple primary tumors, congenital anomalies and dysmorphic features, as well as excessive treatment toxicity.