More than 99% of patients expressed satisfaction with the oncologist-led testing pathway, Dr. Colombo and her associates said. In addition, more than 80% of oncologists said the testing worked well and that counseling was an efficient use of their time.
Geneticists and genetic counselors showed less enthusiasm for the oncologist-led approach, according to investigators.
Less than half of surveyed geneticists or genetic counselors felt that patients received accurate information about the BRCAm test in the pretest counseling session, according to the report.
“It should be noted that the purpose of the oncologist-led pretest counseling was to provide enough information on why the patient should have the test, rather than full genetic counseling, which is appropriate once the test result is known,” investigators said in the report.
The study was supported by AstraZeneca. Dr. Colombo and her associates reported potential conflicts of interest related to AstraZeneca, Genentech, PharmaMar, Amgen, Clovis Oncology, Pfizer, MSD, Tesaro, and others.
SOURCE: Colombo N et al. J Clin Oncol. 2018 Mar 20. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2017.76.278.