Created: Apr 06, 2026 08:05 AM (Updated: Apr 06, 2026 01:22 PM)
Kevin Hughes, medical director of the Bermuda Cancer Genetics and Risk Assessment Clinic (Image from cancer.bm)
The oncologist believes that more genetic testing could be one of the answers to improving the health of Bermudians.
Kevin Hughes, medical director of the Bermuda Cancer Genetics and Risk Assessment Clinic, said the size of the island makes it easy to identify people with genetics that pose a health risk.
He explained: “Let’s say there are several thousand vehicles carrying mutations in Bermuda – a large number of them are from the same family, so it would be easy to identify a patient with a mutation, to make family members aware of that mutation and then have a big impact on the health of the population if we do a lot of testing.”
The Bermuda Cancer Genetics and Risk Assessment Clinic has identified 17 genes that predispose their owners to cancer, from 513 participants since their work began 20 years ago.
Dr Hughes said that this data may be different from the world – but he highlighted how the clinic has expanded from the analysis of two genes to now be able to identify 91 different types.
Until 2013, the program tested for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which contribute to ovarian and early-onset breast cancer, as they were the only commercially available tests until then.
Dr Hughes said: “DNA tests have become cheaper and cheaper over time because they are cheaper. You can do 90 genes for the price of doing two genes before.”
He added: “With these new genes emerging, we are beginning to understand and control them better.
“The more we learn about them, the more comfortable we are to monitor them and try to identify changes and then do something about them as soon as we find them.”
Dr Hughes said the genetically modified test subjects ranged in age from 24 to 82, with an average age of 50. Sixty-eight percent were white and 86 percent were female.
“I think if more people were tested, the numbers would be equal to the population of Bermuda,” he said.
“Since our first focus was breast cancer, and that’s what gets the most attention in the community, it’s no surprise that we tested so many women.”
Dr Hughes said BRCA1 and BRCA2 are common, while the other genes are found in one in 40,000 or 50,000 people.
He said: “The risk of having these genes may be greatly increased when you have an island population.” It can also go down where there are no such carriers on the island.
“In general, I think a combination [in Bermuda] perhaps they would be more different than in other parts of the world if only the small population is considered.”
Dr Hughes meets patients with genetically modified genes every year through the genetics clinic at the Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre.
He said: “The genetic cancer clinic makes sure everyone follows what needs to be done, but also keeps them informed of what is changing.”
Dr Hughes expressed hope that more men would get screened, but encouraged anyone with a strong family history of cancer to book the test, which is usually carried out on the island three or four times a year, through the Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre.
He said: “We find that awareness of genetic risk tends to be higher among women because most of the papers you read talk about breast cancer and ovarian cancer, but men are at risk of colon, bladder and prostate cancer.
“We would love to get more men for testing and try to get them in as family units when we find genetic changes, but we need to do more testing and more awareness of the number of men.”
Test participants provide saliva samples and usually receive results within four to six weeks, or as soon as ten days in emergency cases.
• Visithereditarycancer.ai to learn more about Dr Hughes’ work with cancer genetics and see Related Media to view genetic results for Bermuda
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