Black patients helped by precision medicine navigators were six times more likely to receive genetic testing than those not seen by a navigator. After navigators were established in a large health care system, the proportion of Black patients referred for genomic testing rose from 19% to 58%.
Genomic testing rates also rose for lower-income patients (from 20% to 64%), those on Medicare and Medicaid (from 20% to 68.5%) and people who were being treated at community hospitals (from 6% to 77%).
“We thought there would be some increase but did not expect the testing rates to grow so substantially,” said Alexander J. Allen, MD, the lead study author. He also said that genomic testing results altered treatment plans for many of them patients who received them.
The results of the study were presented at a 2023 scientific meeting.
See “Genomic testing rates soar for Black patients with prostate cancer after introduction of precision medicine navigators” on the News Medical website (October 3, 2023)
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