I'll be honest. I'm a skeptic. This means that I have an open mind, but it's not so open that my brains fall out. Genetic counseling raises some questions for me.
It seems that genetic counseling might not be suitable for Sue. Her children (all adults) may benefit from the information gathered if they were tested, but nothing learned from this test will affect Sue's treatment path.
She has no family history of cancer of any kind (she's the only one known) and we already know she is at some degree of risk for recurrance, simply by default of having cancer to begin with. Recurrance is not predicted by genetic testing as far as I've learned.
So, what benefit does genetic counseling do for her? I
could certainly see testing if future plans included children, or if you were not yet diagnosed for cancer and were looking for information regarding your chances of being diagnosed in the future,
though acting on that information might be premature.
There are studies that suggest (one included below by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services)that having BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes do NOT necessarily translate into higher chances of developing breast cancer
if there is no family history of that disease. That would be the case with Sue, though since cancer is already here, what else is there to know?
It seems that cancer is an illness that produces a lot of fringe industry, and quite honestly quite a bit of it seems like outright quackery. Genetic counseling may be valuable in some instances, but in others it seems completely unnecessary and simply over-prescribed out of hand.
All this, and she has an appointment for the test anyway, it won't harm anything, and we will not pay for it. But it seems a waste to have insurance pay for something which inevitably has no affect on treatment, or is of use, for Sue.
I just wanted to hear some of your input and thoughts.
Here's an interesting link
http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstf/uspsbrgen.htm
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