Consumer Genetic Tests Accelerate Precision Medicine for Some Providers

Joel Diamond, MD, FAAFP, Chief Medical Officer at 2bPrecise

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests have been on the scene for some time now. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first DTC test on three specific BRCA1/BRCA2 breast cancer gene mutations more than two years ago. Six months after that, the agency similarly green-lighted a DTC pharmacogenomic (PGx) test to examine 33 variants for eight different genes that indicate how effectively patients metabolize specific medications.

Like many such advances, availability of DTC tests is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it has been a boon to patient awareness and engagement