The sooner the better: Genetic testing following ovarian cancer diagnosis

abstract

 Highlights

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  Examined when women with serous ovarian cancer prefer to be offered genetic testing
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  The majority felt that the best time for genetic testing was at initial diagnosis.
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  Family history of cancer was associated with a preference for earlier testing.

Objective

As treatment based genetic testing becomes a reality, it is important to assess the attitudes and preferences of women newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer regarding genetic testing. The objective of this study was to determine when women with a diagnosis of high grade serous ovarian cancer would prefer to undergo genetic testing and factors that influence this preference.

Methods

Women over 18 years of age with a known diagnosis of high grade serous ovarian cancer diagnosed between October 2010–2013 were identified via the Princess Margaret Cancer Center Registry. Participants completed a questionnaire, which obtained preferences and attitudes towards genetic testing, cancer history, and demographic information.

Results

120 of the 355 women identified (33.8%) completed the questionnaires. The median age at time of ovarian cancer diagnosis was 57 years (range 35–84). The majority of participants in this study were offered (94.6%) and pursued (84.8%) genetic testing. In this cohort, testing was most frequently offered at diagnosis (41.8%) or during treatment (19.1%). In this study, women with high grade serous ovarian cancer felt that genetic testing should be offered before or at the time of diagnosis (67.8%). Having a family history of breast or ovarian cancer was significantly (p = 0.012) associated with preferring genetic testing at an earlier time point in the disease course.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrate that women with high grade serous ovarian cancer acknowledge the personal and clinical utility of genetic testing and support test implementation at the time of cancer diagnosis.