JCO: The impact of genetic testing on the choice of treatment strategies for low-risk prostate cancer

Patients with relatively low-risk prostate cancer (PCa) often face a difficult choice between immediate treatment or active surveillance (AS) + delayed treatment.

However, to a large extent, its impact on the treatment options of high-risk African-Americans remains unclear.

In this study, 200 patients with very low/low/medium risk PCa (70% black, 16% college graduates) from three Chicago hospitals were randomized at the time of diagnosis and received a standard consultation ±12 genetic GPS test.

The relationship between GPS and treatment options

Overall, the acceptance of AS was higher, although the acceptance of the intervention group was slightly lower (77% vs 88%, p=0.

Multivariate model predicts the likelihood of choosing AS

Patients with lower health literacy who received GPS testing were 7 times less likely to choose AS than the control group, while patients with higher health literacy did not differ depending on whether or not they received GPS testing.

Among low- and medium-risk patients, 69% of patients’ GPS test results were consistent with unfavorable moderate or high-risk cancers.

Contrary to other studies, the net effect of GPS is to prevent patients from choosing AS, mainly in patients with low health literacy.

The results of this study have important implications for our understanding of how prognostic genetic testing affects treatment decisions in different clinical populations .

Original source:

Adam B.