Genetic testing; buyer beware

Don’t Count on 23andMe to Detect Most Cancer Risks, Study Warns 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/16/health/23andme-brca-gene-testing.html

23andMe, (a commercial non–referral genetic testing company), now has more than 10 million customers. 23andMe’s outmoded test focuses on BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations involved in suppressing growth of abnormal cells. 

18 percent of ovarian cancer patients in a recent survey* carried genetic variants, 3/4 of which would not have been detected by 23andMe.

Mary-Claire King, a professor at the University of Washington says,  “The F.D.A. should not have permitted this out-of-date approach to be used for medical purposes”. “Misleading, falsely reassuring results from incomplete testing can cost women’s lives.”

*https://acmg.expoplanner.com/index.cfm?do=expomap.sess&event_id=13&session_id=10414