Psychosocial impact of BRCA testing in young Black breast cancer survivors.
OBJECTIVE
Prior studies demonstrating minimal psychological consequences for women receiving genetic counseling/genetic testing (GC/GT) for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer rely on predominantly Caucasian women. We conducted a prospective follow-up of a subset of participants from a population-based study of Black breast cancer (BC) survivors receiving GC/GT for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.


METHODS
Black women with invasive BC at age ≤ 50 years diagnosed between 2009 and 2012 were recruited through the Florida Cancer Registry. Participants (n = 215, age M = 44.7, SD = 6.2) were offered telephone pre- and post-test GC, a subset completed questionnaires assessing sociodemographic, clinical, and psychosocial variables.


RESULTS
There were no baseline differences in cancer-related distress, psychological distress, or quality of life between test result groups. Social well-being improved in women receiving negative results (P = .01), but no other outcomes demonstrated significant changes over time between groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study is among the first to demonstrate minimal negative psychosocial outcomes following GC/GT among young Black BC survivors, irrespective of test results.
['Gonzalez|Brian D|BD|0000-0001-5108-5735', 'Hoogland|Aasha I|AI|0000-0002-8691-8132', 'Kasting|Monica L|ML|0000-0002-9879-7235', 'Cragun|Deborah|D|0000-0002-3620-2857', 'Kim|Jongphil|J|0000-0002-7430-2226', 'Ashing|Kimlin|K|0000-0002-6209-508X', 'Holt|Cheryl L|CL|0000-0002-2261-7875', 'Hughes Halbert|Chanita|C|', 'Pal|Tuya|T|0000-0001-8009-2475', 'Vadaparampil|Susan T|ST|0000-0002-1052-6917']
D000328:Adult D001741:African Americans D019313:BRCA1 Protein D001943:Breast Neoplasms D000073116:Cancer Survivors D015331:Cohort Studies D005260:Female D005431:Florida D005817:Genetic Counseling D005820:Genetic Testing D006801:Humans D008875:Middle Aged D011446:Prospective Studies D011788:Quality of Life D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Black breast cancer survivor cancer genetic counseling genetic testing distress psychosocial outcomes anxiety health disparities oncology