An expert explains what patients with low-grade prostate cancer can expect when undergoing genomic testing — and why the procedure is important.
Patients with low-grade, non-aggressive prostate cancer may opt for active surveillance — meaning that the disease is closely monitored — in lieu of upfront treatment. Recent findings showed that genomic testing, which is analyzing the molecular characteristics of the tumor itself, may lend insight as to which patients are at higher or lower risk of their cancer getting worse.
READ MORE: Active Surveillance Once Again the Preferred Option for Low-Risk Prostate Cancer
In a recent interview, Dr. Michael S. Leapman, associate professor of urology and program leader of the Prostate & Urologic Cancer Program at Yale Cancer Center in New Haven, Connecticut, discussed what patients can expect when they undergo genetic testing. He also mentioned that his team’s research showed that patients want to learn more about genomic testing and their results.
However, some individuals, he noted, reported not even knowing that the testing was done.
While pain or additional procedures are rarely associated with genomic testing, insurance coverage varies for the procedure, which could mean that some patients receive a bill in the mail. This can be anxiety-inducing for many patients reliant on insurance, Leapman explained.
Transcript
You know, these genomic tests are taken from biopsy specimens or radical prostatectomy specimens. So … patients often don’t know about that; that’s one of the interesting things we found is they expect that they might need an additional sample or something has to be taken. And so there’s no pain from it, that this is taken from an existing biopsy.
The only issue that we found— which came up frequently— is that there can be financial concerns because there is variable coverage by insurance companies. So that was a consistent theme we found was that this can induce anxiety and concern about whether or not it will be covered. Even if it is covered eventually, there may be a period where patient receives a notification from their insurance company that they're reviewing it and that can induce anxiety.
For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to subscribe to CURE®’s newsletters here.
Consider Endocrine Therapy Responses When Planning Chemo in Breast Cancer Subset
December 9th 2023Results from the ADAPTcycle trial found that endocrine therapy plus ovarian suppression can generate high response rates in patients with HR-positive, early breast cancer, regardless of age.
Read More
Kadcyla Is the ‘First Therapy to Show Improved Survival’ in a Breast Cancer Subset
December 8th 2023Kadcyla outperformed Herceptin regarding overall- and invasive disease-free survival in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer that still had remaining invasive disease after undergoing neoadjuvant therapy.
Read More
A Prostate Cancer Researcher’s Unique Perspective as A Cancer Survivor
May 6th 2021In this episode of the “CURE® Talks Cancer” podcast, Leanne Burnham, Ph.D., discusses the research she’s working on to address health disparities in Black men with prostate cancer after being inspired by her father’s diagnosis, and shares her own cancer survival story.
Listen
Dato-DXd Extends PFS in HR+/HER2- Inoperable or Metastatic Breast Cancer
December 7th 2023Dato-DXd (datopotamab deruxtecan) as a form of treatment compared to chemotherapy resulted in improved progression-free survival for patients with previously treated hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative inoperable or metastatic breast cancer.
Read More