Genetic testing and counseling among patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Allison W. Kurian, Stanford University; Kent A. Griffith, University Michigan Ann Arbor; Ann S. Hamilton, University of Southern California; Kevin C. Ward, Emory University; Monica Morro, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Steven J. Katz, University Michigan Ann Arbor; Reshma Jagsi, University Michigan Ann Arbor
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-02-07
• Publisher: American Medical Association
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2018 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.16918
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association
• Volume: 317
• Issue: 5
• Start Page: 531
• End Page: 534
• Grant/Funding Information: Research reported in this publication was supported by grant P01CA163233 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health awarded to the University of Michigan.; The collection of cancer incidence data used in this study was supported by the California Department of Public Health pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Section 103885; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National Program of Cancer Registries, under cooperative agreement 5NU58DP003862-04/DP003862; by contracts HHSN261201000140C, HHSN261201000035C, HHSN261201000034C from NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program awarded to the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, the University of Southern California, and the Public Health Institute, respectively.; The collection of cancer incidence data in Georgia was supported by contract HHSN261201300015I, task order HHSN26100006 from NCI and a cooperative agreement 5NU58DP003875-04-00 from the CDC.
• Keywords: Breast Neoplasms; Genes, BRCA2; Genetic Testing; Counseling; Humans; Genes, BRCA1; Genetic Counseling; Genetic Predisposition to Disease
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Oncology; Biology, Biostatistics

Abstract

Germline genetic testing of patients with breast cancer is an important model of how increasingly widespread genomic sequencing can influence treatment decision making. Testing of 2 breast cancer–associated genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, has been available for 20 years, but new massively parallel sequencing technology and less restrictive patent laws have made multiplex panel tests available at much lower costs.1 Yet little is known about recent patient experience with genetic testing and counseling. Genetic counselors are experts in risk assessment and communication, but because of workforce limitations, some physicians must counsel and test patients without their assistance.2 These challenges motivated this investigation of patients’ use of and perspectives on genetic counseling and testing.