Discover what your genes say about your health
Waters is offering all benefits-eligible employees complimentary access to Color’s confidential health service to help you personalize your health with genetic insights.
A personalized approach to prevention and health management
Color’s confidential service helps you better understand your hereditary risks, helping you, and possibly your family, lead a healthier life.
10-15% of most cancers are due to inherited genetic mutations.1,2,3
Knowing you have a mutation that increases your risk allows you and your healthcare provider to create a personalized plan designed to prevent or detect cancers like breast, ovarian, colorectal, and pancreatic at an earlier or more treatable stage.
Take a new approach to your health with a test that has actionable results with personalized guidance to help you make better decisions about your health with your doctor.
References
- Tung N et al. Cancer 121(1), 2015.
- Pal T et al. Cancer 104(12), 2005.
- Risch HA et al. The American Journal of Human Genetics 68(3), 2001.
Actionable results
Your results can help you and your doctor create a personalized screening and health management plan.
Personal guidance
Get complimentary access to our board-certified genetic counselors to help you understand your results.
Confidential information
We take privacy very seriously and your personally identifiable information will not be shared with your employer without your consent.
How it works
01 Claim your kit and create a Color account.
Claim your kit by verifying your eligibility as an employee when prompted. As a next step, you’ll be asked to create an account using your personal email address. Important information and updates about your results will be sent to this email address.
Enter a shipping address so Color can send you your saliva collection kit.
02 Provide a saliva sample.
Once you receive your Color kit, follow the enclosed instructions to provide a saliva sample and activate the kit online at color.com/genetics/activate.
Seal the box with your sample inside and drop it into a USPS mailbox to return it to Color (pre-paid return label included).
03 Receive your results online.
You will receive an email after the results are reviewed by a certified medical professional, and you may discuss your results with a Color genetic counselor or clinical pharmacist at no additional cost.
04 Meet with our genetic counselors.
As part of every Color program, genetic counseling consultations are available to physicians and patients on an ongoing basis. Our team of board-certified and licensed genetic counselors provide a personalized experience — we answer questions, provide education, offer support to patients and their families, and consult directly with physicians and care teams to help ensure that results lead to actionable and relevant next steps.
05 Create a plan with your healthcare provider.
Use Color’s online tools to easily share your results with your healthcare provider, and together, create a personalized screening and prevention plan.
From a simple saliva sample, you can learn potentially life-changing information
Heart
Analysis of genes associated with hereditary forms of heart disease, such as inherited high cholesterol, that may be evaluated differently from conditions without a genetic cause.
Cancer
Analysis of genes associated with hereditary cancer risk for breast, ovarian, uterine, colon, melanoma, pancreatic, stomach, and prostate cancers.
Medications
Analysis of genes associated with medication response that impact how the body may process certain medications.
Discover fun, genetic insights about yourself
How well do you digest dairy products?
Did you know that your genes determine earwax type?
Are you likely to love or hate cilantro?
When you learn, your family can benefit too
Because genes are passed down through families, what you learn could also provide insights for your relatives.
Dig in to your health history
Could the cancer or heart condition in your family have a genetic link?
Care for your family
Your results could identify relatives who could benefit from genetic testing.
Pass on knowledge
Help future generations know what to look out for.
Informing a personal history of cancer
Genetic testing can provide answers for people who have cancer in the family.
“I look at my two sons and my husband and I want to be there to watch them grow up.”
Maggie
“We don’t ever want to have to uproot our lives to cancer. If we could have the information at our fingertips, wouldn’t we want it that way?”
Brian
“It definitely is something that will change my life. This is something to take and run with.”
Christy
Learn more about the benefits and limitations of genetic testing
This means no mutations associated with hereditary cancer were identified. It’s important to share your results with your provider to create a personalized healthcare plan.
This means a mutation associated with hereditary cancer was identified. It’s important to share your results with your provider to create a personalized healthcare plan.
It is common to see a genetic change that requires further research to determine if it is associated with an increased risk for developing hereditary cancer. To date, most of the variants of uncertain significance that are further classified have been found to be harmless, though this process can sometimes take years.1
1. Richards S, Aziz N, Bale S, et al. Standards and guidelines for the interpretation of sequence variants: a joint consensus recommendation of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics and the Association for Molecular Pathology. Genet Med. 2015;17(5):405-23.
Most cancers are “sporadic,” or seemingly due to random chance and without an identifiable cause. About 10-15% of certain cancers are due to harmful genetic changes, called mutations, that are passed down through families. 2, 3, 4, 5
2. Tung N, Battelli C, Allen B, et al. Frequency of mutations in individuals with breast cancer referred for BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing using next-generation sequencing with a 25-gene panel. Cancer. January 2015;121(1):25-33. Pubmed Abstract.
3. Pal T, Permuth-Wey J, Betts JA, et al. BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations account for a large proportion of ovarian carcinoma cases. Cancer. December 2005;104(12):2807-16. Pubmed Abstract.
4. Claus EB, Risch N, Thompson WD, et al. The calculation of breast cancer risk for women with a first degree family history of ovarian cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. November 1993;28(2):115-20. Pubmed Abstract.
5. Risch HA, McLaughlin JR, Cole DE, et al. Prevalence and penetrance of germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in a population series of 649 women with ovarian cancer. Am J Hum Genet. March 2001;68(3):700-10. Pubmed Abstract.
Knowing that you have a mutation that increases your risk of developing cancer allows you and your healthcare provider to create a personalized screening plan, which increases the chance of early detection. This is important because detecting cancer at its earliest stage improves the likelihood of a favorable outcome.6
6. SEER Stat Fact Sheets: Breast Cancer. Published November 2013. National Cancer Institute.
A positive result, or finding a mutation, is not a cancer diagnosis and does not mean that you will develop cancer. For example, most women have a 10% chance of getting breast cancer by the time they are 80, while a woman with a mutation in the BRCA1 gene can have up to an 81% chance.7 Most men have a 2% chance of getting colorectal cancer by the time they are 70, while a man with a mutation in the MLH1 gene can have up to a 41% chance.8, 9 The level of increased cancer risk differs from gene to gene.
7. Antoniou A, Pharoah PD, Narod S, et al. Average risks of breast and ovarian cancer associated with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations detected in case Series unselected for family history: a combined analysis of 22 studies. Hum Genet. May 2003;72(5):1117-30. Pubmed Abstract.
8. Bonadona V, Bonaïti B, Olschwang S, et al. Cancer risks associated with germline mutations in MLH1, MSH2, and MSH6 genes in Lynch syndrome. JAMA.2011;305(22):2304-2310.
9. Dowty JG, Win AK, Buchanan DD, et al. Cancer risks for MLH1 and MSH2 mutation carriers. Hum Mutat. March 2013;34(3):490-7.
This means no mutations associated with hereditary cancer were identified. It’s important to share your results with your provider to create a personalized healthcare plan.
This means a mutation associated with hereditary cancer was identified. It’s important to share your results with your provider to create a personalized healthcare plan.
It is common to see a genetic change that requires further research to determine if it is associated with an increased risk for developing hereditary cancer. To date, most of the variants of uncertain significance that are further classified have been found to be harmless, though this process can sometimes take years.1
1. Richards S, Aziz N, Bale S, et al. Standards and guidelines for the interpretation of sequence variants: a joint consensus recommendation of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics and the Association for Molecular Pathology. Genet Med. 2015;17(5):405-23.
Most cancers are “sporadic,” or seemingly due to random chance and without an identifiable cause. About 10-15% of certain cancers are due to harmful genetic changes, called mutations, that are passed down through families. 2, 3, 4, 5
2. Tung N, Battelli C, Allen B, et al. Frequency of mutations in individuals with breast cancer referred for BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing using next-generation sequencing with a 25-gene panel. Cancer. January 2015;121(1):25-33. Pubmed Abstract.
3. Pal T, Permuth-Wey J, Betts JA, et al. BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations account for a large proportion of ovarian carcinoma cases. Cancer. December 2005;104(12):2807-16. Pubmed Abstract.
4. Claus EB, Risch N, Thompson WD, et al. The calculation of breast cancer risk for women with a first degree family history of ovarian cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. November 1993;28(2):115-20. Pubmed Abstract.
5. Risch HA, McLaughlin JR, Cole DE, et al. Prevalence and penetrance of germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in a population series of 649 women with ovarian cancer. Am J Hum Genet. March 2001;68(3):700-10. Pubmed Abstract.
Knowing that you have a mutation that increases your risk of developing cancer allows you and your healthcare provider to create a personalized screening plan, which increases the chance of early detection. This is important because detecting cancer at its earliest stage improves the likelihood of a favorable outcome.6
6. SEER Stat Fact Sheets: Breast Cancer. Published November 2013. National Cancer Institute.
A positive result, or finding a mutation, is not a cancer diagnosis and does not mean that you will develop cancer. For example, most women have a 10% chance of getting breast cancer by the time they are 80, while a woman with a mutation in the BRCA1 gene can have up to an 81% chance.7 Most men have a 2% chance of getting colorectal cancer by the time they are 70, while a man with a mutation in the MLH1 gene can have up to a 41% chance.8, 9 The level of increased cancer risk differs from gene to gene.
7. Antoniou A, Pharoah PD, Narod S, et al. Average risks of breast and ovarian cancer associated with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations detected in case Series unselected for family history: a combined analysis of 22 studies. Hum Genet. May 2003;72(5):1117-30. Pubmed Abstract.
8. Bonadona V, Bonaïti B, Olschwang S, et al. Cancer risks associated with germline mutations in MLH1, MSH2, and MSH6 genes in Lynch syndrome. JAMA.2011;305(22):2304-2310.
9. Dowty JG, Win AK, Buchanan DD, et al. Cancer risks for MLH1 and MSH2 mutation carriers. Hum Mutat. March 2013;34(3):490-7.
Still have questions?
Email our support team at support@color.com or call us at (844) 352-6567 Monday through Friday between 7am and 4pm Pacific Time.
