Diagnostic Testing & Technology Report

Would cancer patients choose to undergo genetic testing to predict their disease prognosis, even if no treatments were available for the condition? Yes, according to a study published in the June issue of the Journal of Genetic Counseling. Researchers from the University of California Los Angeles surveyed 99 patients who had been diagnosed with ocular melanoma. The perceived usefulness of prognostic information was then evaluated in all patients, including a subset that had undergone cytogenetic testing for the genetic marker most strongly linked to rapid metastatic disease. Patients whose tumors show loss of a copy of chromosome 3 have at least a 50 percent chance of death within five years. Aggressive cases can result in blindness and death in as quickly as a year.