Prof Rolf Sijmons

Rolf Sijmons has worked as a clinical geneticist in the field of oncogenetics for more than 20 years. He is Consultant in Clinical Oncogenetics and Professor of Medical Translational Genetics at the University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands. His research interests mainly focus on the genetics of colorectal cancer, the clinical interpretation of unclassified variants, bioinformatics tools to support clinical management of cancer families and clinical applications of nextgen sequencing technology. He is member of several international committees in these fields and is editor of the familial cancer database.

A family history of cancer is a powerful indicator of cancer risk. Many hundreds of familial cancer syndromes with high penetrant mutations exist. In addition, combinations of low-penetrant germline mutations may add up to significant cancer risks in individuals. The practical aspects of recognizing familial cancer syndromes, studying the inherited causes of cancer and researching the medical management of patients and families with high genetic risks are the topics of our journal. Publishing in an open access format supports the spread of knowledge on hereditary cancer within the professional community.