Gene Maps Are No Cure-All - WSJ.com (references ovarian cancer as an example)

Gene Maps Are No Cure-All - WSJ.com

"The new study, published Monday in the journal Science Translational Medicine and presented at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Chicago, was based on data from thousands of twins in five countries. It found that for 23 of 24 diseases analyzed, most patients would get negative test results, suggesting that their risk of being stricken with these diseases is low.
In reality, the study says, their risk would be only slightly lower than that of the general population. Patients who have been gene-sequenced, particularly without a doctor's counsel, could be lulled into a false sense of security.....

"For example, one of the diseases studied was ovarian cancer. Dr. Vogelstein noted that of the 156 million or so women in the U.S., about 2.2 million are expected to get ovarian cancer at some point. But even if every woman got a whole-genome scan, the tests would be able to identify only 100,000 of them, Dr. Vogelstein said. "That tells you that 2.1 million women cannot be alerted to the fact that they will get the cancer," he said......

Hartzband and Groopman on the Rise of the Medical Expertocracy - WSJ.com

 Blogger's Note: a little political commentary thrown in but overall a good article, book reference

Hartzband and Groopman on the Rise of the Medical Expertocracy - WSJ.com

Alex Nabaum

"Patients and doctors can differ with experts and not be ignorant or irrational. Policy makers need to abandon the idea that experts know what is best. In medical care, the "right" clinical decisions turn out to be those that are based on a patient's goals and values."