On Thursday, December 7, 2023, oncology and cancer-health screening company Cancer IQ announced a partnership with the Boston University School of Public Health to study racial and ethnic disparities in genetic counseling and testing for at-risk cancer patients. This study aims to identify which racial and ethnic groups are not receiving the necessary counseling and treatment and to explore ways in which this disparity can be improved.
Data from this study was collected from over 14,000 patients across 15 clinical sites and six states, identifying issues, particularly in non-Hispanic Black patients, that had been referred for genetic testing, stating that only 8% of this population completed their genetic counseling, as opposed to 11% of white patients. This finding shows that there is a statistically significant disparity in the completion of genetic counseling with patients of color as opposed to white patients.
“Now that we have more information about what is driving disparities in genomic testing and how to solve for it, we need to put it into clinical practice,” said Cancer IQ’s Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor, Dr. Olufunmilayo (Funmi) Olopade, MD, as part of the press release. “I am proud to be part of a team at CancerIQ that is transforming the delivery of high quality care and is laser focused on closing disparities in access.”
CancerIQ’s CEO and Co-Founder, Feyi Ayodele, included their thoughts in the press release, stating, “Comprehensive cancer risk assessment integrated with genetic counseling and testing is a complex process. The CancerIQ platform simplifies this process for your everyday clinician, so that more patients can receive this service from the people they already know and trust.”
More information can be found in the full press release below.
Read the full press release here.
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