Genetic counseling has not been discussed in this chapter, but it is a service provided by trained professional counselors who also have detailed knowledge of medical genetics, as described in Application Chapter A. Genetic counselors provide details about gene mutations and have knowledge of most of the details of diseases associated with genetic abnormalities. With regard to genetic testing to identify one's personal risk of cancer, what are the three or four topics you think are most important to be able to discuss with a genetic counselor?

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Hi, everyone. Let's look at our next question. What is the role of a trained professional counselor in interpreting test results related to genetic abnormalities. Choice. A genetic counselors can help patients understand the results of genetic testing for cancer risk choice. B genetic counselors are not trained to interpret test results. Choice C test results do not need to be interpreted by a genetic counselor or choice. D only medical doctors can interpret test results. Well, as we look through our answer choices, we'll start here with choice. A genetic counselors can help patients understand the results of genetic testing for cancer risk. I'm just going to put a dot here for this. This is correct, but genetic counselors have a lot of other roles as well. Not just um when it comes to genetic testing for cancer risk, there's other forms of genetic testing. Are you a carrier for a genetic condition? Do you have a genetic condition? Uh as well as genes for cancer risk? So let's just look at our other answer choices to see if there's a better or more complete answer later on. Choice B says genetic counselors are not trained to interpret test results. Well, this one hopefully is pretty easy to eliminate. By definition, a genetic counselor is trained to interpret genetic test results. Choice C test results do not need to be interpreted by a genetic counselor. Well, this would not be a correct answer. Uh Genetic test results tend to be very complex. Uh especially when it comes to something like cancer risk. A lot of people don't understand what does this mean. Does this mean? I definitely will get this cancer when in general, it refers to increased risks of certain kind of cancers. And one's risk can also depend on the particular family history, uh health issues and lifestyle issues of the person with that gene. So it's not just a simple yes or no answer, you can have a positive, a negative or an indeterminate result. Uh In addition, you would look at um how test results affect other family members. So a one single person might consent to have genetic testing, but related people will be at similar risks. How does an individual's testing affect if they test positive for a condition? What's their responsibility? How does that affect related people who might also carry that gene and understanding of the future? Will they pass on a condition to future offspring? Are their carriers? How is, what is the mode of inheritance of a particular gene? So these are all make test results very complicated and complex and it's useful to have or imperative to have somebody that can interpret those in choice. D only medical doctors can interpret test results. Well, no, that's not correct. Medical counselors are specifically trained to interpret them and in fact, that is their specialty. So they may know more than a medical doctor since that is specifically what they focus on. So we'll go back to choice A which we had selected earlier as being the best answer here. Genetic counselors can help patients understand the results of genetic testing for cancer risk. And this is a particularly important area because there's many misunderstandings surrounding these tests. Um with often patients interpreting that as being definitely they will have this kind of cancer when it's usually involves an increased risk for a certain kind of cancer that can be affected by environmental factors as well. So choice A is our correct answer in this case. See you in the next video.

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Key Concepts

Genetic Testing and Mutation Analysis

Inheritance Patterns and Risk Assessment

Implications of Test Results and Counseling