Cancer-Related Genetic Testing and Personalized Medicine for Adolescents: A Narrative Review of Impact and Understanding.

Vetsch J1,2, Wakefield CE1,2, Warby M3, Tucker K3, Patterson P4,5, McGill BC1,2, Metcalfe A6, Cohn RJ1,2, Fardell JE1,2.

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Abstract

Genetic testing is becoming increasingly available for adolescents who are undergoing cancer treatment or at risk of cancer predisposition syndromes. With this narrative review, we aimed to synthesize the evidence on psychosocial outcomes and adolescents' understanding of genetic testing-thus far, an underresearched topic. Both psychological benefits and harms of predictive testing were reported in adolescents from high-risk families. Harms were mainly related to cancer-specific distress and increased worries. Findings on genetic understanding were sparse. Future studies should focus on psychosocial outcomes and adolescents' understanding undergoing genetic testing and enabling access to genetic counseling pre-testing and post-testing.