There are many terms you may hear when learning about genetic testing - germline, somatic and genomic. Ultimately, they all fall under the umbrella of genetic testing, but there are slight variations. Germline testing looks at all of the DNA in a person’s body and can reveal an inherited mutation that has been present since birth. This is what the medical community is referring to when encouraging people to get genetic testing to determine if they are at increased risk for ovarian or other related cancers. Somatic testing, on the other hand, is a type of genetic testing that looks for acquired mutations in a specific set of tissue or cells. Unlike inherited mutations that have been present since birth, these acquired mutations may only be present in specific areas of the body and have led to the growth of cancerous cells or a tumor. Doctors will recommend somatic testing on a tumor or tissue when someone has been diagnosed with ovarian or another gynecologic cancer, because it can help them tailor treatment to be most effective. Genomic testing is a more recent term that describes the analysis of someone’s entire DNA - both inherited genes and how those genes interact with each other and the person’s environment. You can read more about the various types of genetic testing here.