1
|
Walsh N, Cooper A, Dockery A, O'Byrne JJ. Variant reclassification and clinical implications. J Med Genet 2024; 61:207-211. [PMID: 38296635 DOI: 10.1136/jmg-2023-109488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2024]
Abstract
Genomic technologies have transformed clinical genetic testing, underlining the importance of accurate molecular genetic diagnoses. Variant classification, ranging from benign to pathogenic, is fundamental to these tests. However, variant reclassification, the process of reassigning the pathogenicity of variants over time, poses challenges to diagnostic legitimacy. This review explores the medical and scientific literature available on variant reclassification, focusing on its clinical implications.Variant reclassification is driven by accruing evidence from diverse sources, leading to variant reclassification frequency ranging from 3.6% to 58.8%. Recent studies have shown that significant changes can occur when reviewing variant classifications within 1 year after initial classification, illustrating the importance of early, accurate variant assignation for clinical care.Variants of uncertain significance (VUS) are particularly problematic. They lack clear categorisation but have influenced patient treatment despite recommendations against it. Addressing VUS reclassification is essential to enhance the credibility of genetic testing and the clinical impact. Factors affecting reclassification include standardised guidelines, clinical phenotype-genotype correlations through deep phenotyping and ancestry studies, large-scale databases and bioinformatics tools. As genomic databases grow and knowledge advances, reclassification rates are expected to change, reducing discordance in future classifications.Variant reclassification affects patient diagnosis, precision therapy and family screening. The exact patient impact is yet unknown. Understanding influencing factors and adopting standardised guidelines are vital for precise molecular genetic diagnoses, ensuring optimal patient care and minimising clinical risk.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Walsh
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Children's Health Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Aislinn Cooper
- Next Generation Sequencing Lab, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Adrian Dockery
- Next Generation Sequencing Lab, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
| | - James J O'Byrne
- National Centre for Inherited Metabolic Disorders, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Rehm HL, Alaimo JT, Aradhya S, Bayrak-Toydemir P, Best H, Brandon R, Buchan JG, Chao EC, Chen E, Clifford J, Cohen ASA, Conlin LK, Das S, Davis KW, Del Gaudio D, Del Viso F, DiVincenzo C, Eisenberg M, Guidugli L, Hammer MB, Harrison SM, Hatchell KE, Dyer LH, Hoang LU, Holt JM, Jobanputra V, Karbassi ID, Kearney HM, Kelly MA, Kelly JM, Kluge ML, Komala T, Kruszka P, Lau L, Lebo MS, Marshall CR, McKnight D, McWalter K, Meng Y, Nagan N, Neckelmann CS, Neerman N, Niu Z, Paolillo VK, Paolucci SA, Perry D, Pesaran T, Radtke K, Rasmussen KJ, Retterer K, Saunders CJ, Spiteri E, Stanley C, Szuto A, Taft RJ, Thiffault I, Thomas BC, Thomas-Wilson A, Thorpe E, Tidwell TJ, Towne MC, Zouk H. The landscape of reported VUS in multi-gene panel and genomic testing: Time for a change. Genet Med 2023; 25:100947. [PMID: 37534744 PMCID: PMC10825061 DOI: 10.1016/j.gim.2023.100947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Revised: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Variants of uncertain significance (VUS) are a common result of diagnostic genetic testing and can be difficult to manage with potential misinterpretation and downstream costs, including time investment by clinicians. We investigated the rate of VUS reported on diagnostic testing via multi-gene panels (MGPs) and exome and genome sequencing (ES/GS) to measure the magnitude of uncertain results and explore ways to reduce their potentially detrimental impact. METHODS Rates of inconclusive results due to VUS were collected from over 1.5 million sequencing test results from 19 clinical laboratories in North America from 2020 to 2021. RESULTS We found a lower rate of inconclusive test results due to VUSs from ES/GS (22.5%) compared with MGPs (32.6%; P < .0001). For MGPs, the rate of inconclusive results correlated with panel size. The use of trios reduced inconclusive rates (18.9% vs 27.6%; P < .0001), whereas the use of GS compared with ES had no impact (22.2% vs 22.6%; P = ns). CONCLUSION The high rate of VUS observed in diagnostic MGP testing warrants examining current variant reporting practices. We propose several approaches to reduce reported VUS rates, while directing clinician resources toward important VUS follow-up.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Heidi L Rehm
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA; Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
| | - Joseph T Alaimo
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO; Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO; Genomic Medicine Center, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO
| | - Swaroop Aradhya
- Invitae, San Francisco, CA; Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA
| | - Pinar Bayrak-Toydemir
- ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT; Department of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT
| | - Hunter Best
- ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT; Department of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT
| | | | - Jillian G Buchan
- Genetics Division, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
| | | | | | | | - Ana S A Cohen
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO; Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO; Genomic Medicine Center, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO
| | - Laura K Conlin
- Division of Genomic Diagnostics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Soma Das
- Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | | | | | - Florencia Del Viso
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO
| | | | - Marcia Eisenberg
- Women's Health and Genetics, Labcorp, Research Triangle Park, NC
| | - Lucia Guidugli
- Rady Children's Institute for Genomic Medicine, San Diego, CA
| | - Monia B Hammer
- Rady Children's Institute for Genomic Medicine, San Diego, CA
| | | | | | | | | | - James M Holt
- HudsonAlpha Clinical Services Lab, LLC, Huntsville, AL
| | - Vaidehi Jobanputra
- Molecular Diagnostics, New York Genome Center, New York, NY; Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY
| | | | - Hutton M Kearney
- Division of Laboratory Genetics and Genomics, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
| | | | - Jacob M Kelly
- HudsonAlpha Clinical Services Lab, LLC, Huntsville, AL
| | - Michelle L Kluge
- Division of Laboratory Genetics and Genomics, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
| | | | | | - Lynette Lau
- Division of Genome Diagnostics, Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Matthew S Lebo
- Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, Mass General Brigham, Cambridge, MA
| | - Christian R Marshall
- Division of Genome Diagnostics, Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | | | - Yan Meng
- Fulgent Genetics, Temple City, CA
| | | | | | | | - Zhiyv Niu
- Division of Laboratory Genetics and Genomics, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
| | - Vitoria K Paolillo
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO
| | - Sarah A Paolucci
- Genetics Division, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
| | | | | | | | - Kristen J Rasmussen
- Division of Laboratory Genetics and Genomics, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
| | | | - Carol J Saunders
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO; Genomic Medicine Center, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO; Department of Pediatrics and Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO
| | | | | | - Anna Szuto
- Clinical and Metabolic Genetics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | - Isabelle Thiffault
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO; Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO; Genomic Medicine Center, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Hana Zouk
- Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, Mass General Brigham, Cambridge, MA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Lin SJ, Vona B, Lau T, Huang K, Zaki MS, Aldeen HS, Karimiani EG, Rocca C, Noureldeen MM, Saad AK, Petree C, Bartolomaeus T, Abou Jamra R, Zifarelli G, Gotkhindikar A, Wentzensen IM, Liao M, Cork EE, Varshney P, Hashemi N, Mohammadi MH, Rad A, Neira J, Toosi MB, Knopp C, Kurth I, Challman TD, Smith R, Abdalla A, Haaf T, Suri M, Joshi M, Chung WK, Moreno-De-Luca A, Houlden H, Maroofian R, Varshney GK. Evaluating the association of biallelic OGDHL variants with significant phenotypic heterogeneity. Genome Med 2023; 15:102. [PMID: 38031187 PMCID: PMC10688095 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-023-01258-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Biallelic variants in OGDHL, encoding part of the α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex, have been associated with highly heterogeneous neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders. However, the validity of this association remains to be confirmed. A second OGDHL patient cohort was recruited to carefully assess the gene-disease relationship. METHODS Using an unbiased genotype-first approach, we screened large, multiethnic aggregated sequencing datasets worldwide for biallelic OGDHL variants. We used CRISPR/Cas9 to generate zebrafish knockouts of ogdhl, ogdh paralogs, and dhtkd1 to investigate functional relationships and impact during development. Functional complementation with patient variant transcripts was conducted to systematically assess protein functionality as a readout for pathogenicity. RESULTS A cohort of 14 individuals from 12 unrelated families exhibited highly variable clinical phenotypes, with the majority of them presenting at least one additional variant, potentially accounting for a blended phenotype and complicating phenotypic understanding. We also uncovered extreme clinical heterogeneity and high allele frequencies, occasionally incompatible with a fully penetrant recessive disorder. Human cDNA of previously described and new variants were tested in an ogdhl zebrafish knockout model, adding functional evidence for variant reclassification. We disclosed evidence of hypomorphic alleles as well as a loss-of-function variant without deleterious effects in zebrafish variant testing also showing discordant familial segregation, challenging the relationship of OGDHL as a conventional Mendelian gene. Going further, we uncovered evidence for a complex compensatory relationship among OGDH, OGDHL, and DHTKD1 isoenzymes that are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and exhibit complex transcriptional compensation patterns with partial functional redundancy. CONCLUSIONS Based on the results of genetic, clinical, and functional studies, we formed three hypotheses in which to frame observations: biallelic OGDHL variants lead to a highly variable monogenic disorder, variants in OGDHL are following a complex pattern of inheritance, or they may not be causative at all. Our study further highlights the continuing challenges of assessing the validity of reported disease-gene associations and effects of variants identified in these genes. This is particularly more complicated in making genetic diagnoses based on identification of variants in genes presenting a highly heterogenous phenotype such as "OGDHL-related disorders".
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sheng-Jia Lin
- Genes & Human Disease Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA
| | - Barbara Vona
- Institute of Human Genetics, Julius Maximilians University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
- Institute of Human Genetics, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- Institute for Auditory Neuroscience and InnerEarLab, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Center, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, 72076, Germany
| | - Tracy Lau
- Department of Neuromuscular Disorders, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Kevin Huang
- Genes & Human Disease Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA
| | - Maha S Zaki
- Clinical Genetics Department, Human Genetics and Genome Research Institute, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Huda Shujaa Aldeen
- Department of Neuromuscular Disorders, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Ehsan Ghayoor Karimiani
- Molecular and Clinical Sciences Institute, St. George's, University of London, Cranmer Terrace London, London, UK
| | - Clarissa Rocca
- Department of Neuromuscular Disorders, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Mahmoud M Noureldeen
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt
| | - Ahmed K Saad
- Medical Molecular Genetics Department, Human Genetics and Genome Research Institute, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Cassidy Petree
- Genes & Human Disease Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA
| | - Tobias Bartolomaeus
- Institute of Human Genetics, University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Rami Abou Jamra
- Institute of Human Genetics, University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | | | | | | | - Emalyn Elise Cork
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Pratishtha Varshney
- Genes & Human Disease Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA
| | - Narges Hashemi
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | | | - Aboulfazl Rad
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Center, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, 72076, Germany
| | - Juanita Neira
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Mehran Beiraghi Toosi
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Cordula Knopp
- Institute for Human Genetics and Genomic Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstr. 30, Aachen, 52074, Germany
| | - Ingo Kurth
- Institute for Human Genetics and Genomic Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstr. 30, Aachen, 52074, Germany
| | - Thomas D Challman
- Autism & Developmental Medicine Institute, Geisinger, Lewisburg, PA, USA
| | - Rebecca Smith
- Autism & Developmental Medicine Institute, Geisinger, Lewisburg, PA, USA
| | - Asmahan Abdalla
- Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Gaafar Ibn Auf Children's Tertiary Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan
| | - Thomas Haaf
- Institute of Human Genetics, Julius Maximilians University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Mohnish Suri
- Nottingham Clinical Genetics Service, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK
| | - Manali Joshi
- Bioinformatics Centre, S. P. Pune University, Pune, India
| | - Wendy K Chung
- Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospitaland, Harvard Medical School , Boston, MA, USA
| | - Andres Moreno-De-Luca
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada
| | - Henry Houlden
- Department of Neuromuscular Disorders, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Reza Maroofian
- Department of Neuromuscular Disorders, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Gaurav K Varshney
- Genes & Human Disease Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Ceyhan-Birsoy O, Jayakumaran G, Kemel Y, Misyura M, Aypar U, Jairam S, Yang C, Li Y, Mehta N, Maio A, Arnold A, Salo-Mullen E, Sheehan M, Syed A, Walsh M, Carlo M, Robson M, Offit K, Ladanyi M, Reis-Filho JS, Stadler ZK, Zhang L, Latham A, Zehir A, Mandelker D. Diagnostic yield and clinical relevance of expanded genetic testing for cancer patients. Genome Med 2022; 14:92. [PMID: 35971132 PMCID: PMC9377129 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-022-01101-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Genetic testing (GT) for hereditary cancer predisposition is traditionally performed on selected genes based on established guidelines for each cancer type. Recently, expanded GT (eGT) using large hereditary cancer gene panels uncovered hereditary predisposition in a greater proportion of patients than previously anticipated. We sought to define the diagnostic yield of eGT and its clinical relevance in a broad cancer patient population over a 5-year period. METHODS A total of 17,523 cancer patients with a broad range of solid tumors, who received eGT at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center between July 2015 to April 2020, were included in the study. The patients were unselected for current GT criteria such as cancer type, age of onset, and/or family history of disease. The diagnostic yield of eGT was determined for each cancer type. For 9187 patients with five common cancer types frequently interrogated for hereditary predisposition (breast, colorectal, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate cancer), the rate of pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) variants in genes that have been associated with each cancer type was analyzed. The clinical implications of additional findings in genes not known to be associated with a patients' cancer type were investigated. RESULTS 16.7% of patients in a broad cancer cohort had P/LP variants in hereditary cancer predisposition genes identified by eGT. The diagnostic yield of eGT in patients with breast, colorectal, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate cancer was 17.5%, 15.3%, 24.2%, 19.4%, and 15.9%, respectively. Additionally, 8% of the patients with five common cancers had P/LP variants in genes not known to be associated with the patient's current cancer type, with 0.8% of them having such a variant that confers a high risk for another cancer type. Analysis of clinical and family histories revealed that 74% of patients with variants in genes not associated with their current cancer type but which conferred a high risk for another cancer did not meet the current GT criteria for the genes harboring these variants. One or more variants of uncertain significance were identified in 57% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS Compared to targeted testing approaches, eGT can increase the yield of detection of hereditary cancer predisposition in patients with a range of tumors, allowing opportunities for enhanced surveillance and intervention. The benefits of performing eGT should be weighed against the added number of VUSs identified with this approach.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ozge Ceyhan-Birsoy
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Gowtham Jayakumaran
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yelena Kemel
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Maksym Misyura
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Umut Aypar
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sowmya Jairam
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ciyu Yang
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yirong Li
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Nikita Mehta
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Anna Maio
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Angela Arnold
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Erin Salo-Mullen
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Margaret Sheehan
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Aijazuddin Syed
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Michael Walsh
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Maria Carlo
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Mark Robson
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kenneth Offit
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Marc Ladanyi
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jorge S Reis-Filho
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Zsofia K Stadler
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Liying Zhang
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
- Present Address: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Alicia Latham
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ahmet Zehir
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
- Present Address: Precision Medicine and Biosamples, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Diana Mandelker
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Johnson LM, Mandrell BN, Li C, Lu Z, Gattuso J, Harrison LW, Mori M, Ouma AA, Pritchard M, Sharp KMH, Nichols KE. Managing Pandora's Box: Familial Expectations around the Return of (Future) Germline Results. AJOB Empir Bioeth 2022; 13:152-165. [PMID: 35471132 DOI: 10.1080/23294515.2022.2063994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pediatric oncology patients are increasingly being offered germline testing to diagnose underlying cancer predispositions. Meanwhile, as understanding of variant pathogenicity evolves, planned reanalysis of genomic results has been suggested. Little is known regarding the types of genomic information that parents and their adolescent children with cancer prefer to receive at the time of testing or their expectations around the future return of genomic results. METHODS Parents and adolescent children with cancer eligible for genomic testing for cancer predisposition were surveyed regarding their attitudes and expectations for receiving current and future germline results (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02530658). RESULTS All parents (100%) desired to learn about results for treatable or preventable conditions, with 92.4% wanting results even when there is no treatment or prevention. Parents expressed less interest in receiving uncertain results for themselves (88.3%) than for their children (95.3%). Most parents (95.9%) and adolescents (87.9%) believed that providers have a responsibility to share new or updated germline results indefinitely or at any point during follow-up care. Fewer parents (67.5%) indicated that they would want results if their child was deceased: 10.3% would not want to be contacted, 19.3% were uncertain. CONCLUSIONS Expectations for return of new or updated genomic results are high among pediatric oncology families, although up to one third of parents have reservations about receiving such information in the event of their child's death. These results underscore the importance of high-quality pre-and post-test counseling, conducted by individuals trained in consenting around genomic testing to elicit family preferences and align expectations around the return of germline results.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liza-Marie Johnson
- Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Belinda N Mandrell
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Nursing Research, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Chen Li
- Department of Biostatistics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Zhaohua Lu
- Department of Biostatistics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Jami Gattuso
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Nursing Research, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Lynn W Harrison
- Department of Oncology, Division of Cancer Predisposition, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Motomi Mori
- Department of Biostatistics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Annastasia A Ouma
- Department of Oncology, Division of Cancer Predisposition, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Michele Pritchard
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Nursing Research, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | | | - Kim E Nichols
- Department of Oncology, Division of Cancer Predisposition, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| |
Collapse
|