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Psychosocial impact of BRCA testing in young Black breast cancer survivors

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Psycho-Oncology

Published online on

Abstract

--- - |2+ Abstract 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. - Psycho-Oncology, EarlyView.