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Baseline knowledge and receptiveness to genetic testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndromes in Chinese high-risk females

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Abstract

Limited studies have examined the pre-counselling knowledge and attitudes of high-risk women on hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndromes genetic screening in Asia Pacific regions, particularly among Chinese. After controlling cost, an intrinsic barrier to undertake such screening, comprehensive understanding of the baseline characteristics of this cohort towards HBOC genetic counselling and testing service (GT) could be sought. This study aimed at exploring the baseline knowledge, possible motivators, barriers, and decisional factors of undertaking such service. One hundred and forty-two Southern Hong Kong Chinese high-risk females (89.4% with cancer history; 10.6% were cancer-free at-risk family members) completed a questionnaire right before their pre-testing GT. Results showed that perceived benefits to self and family members with reference to cancer prevention are important decisional motivators. A sponsored cancer genetic testing service in this cohort was crucial as 71.3% would not have opted for self-financed screening. Pre-testing and post-testing counselling were essential, particularly for older and less educated high-risk individuals. More importantly, after thorough pre-counselling with Q&A session, the entire cohort in this study gave written consent to undertake GT. Moreover, those proven to be germline pathogenic variant carriers were willing to share the information with family members and successfully persuaded them to pursue GT.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Miss Alcina Kong, Miss Angela Li, and Mr Leo Ng for their contributions in literature review and data collection; Hong Kong Hereditary Breast Cancer Family Registry, The Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital and Dr. Ellen Li Charitable Foundation for their support in genetic testing; and the participants who took part in this study.

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Correspondence to Ava Kwong.

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The current study is not a clinical trial and ethical approval (UW09-210) had been obtained from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of The University of Hong Kong.

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The authors declare no competing interest.

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Chu, A.TW., Tse, D.MS., Suen, D.T.K. et al. Baseline knowledge and receptiveness to genetic testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndromes in Chinese high-risk females. J Community Genet 12, 431–438 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12687-021-00518-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12687-021-00518-3

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