Genetic testing - Ancestry by DNA, 23andme, Family Tree DNA, Genographic Project 2.0, etc.

Has anyone here submitted a DNA sample to any of those commercial labs that promise to tell your ancestry, and if so, did it seem correct? Did it tell you if you had genes that indicate the propensity for developing PCa?

Not that it matters now, but out of curiosity I'd like to know if I have the genes for PCa or if it was the Round-up herbicide cocktails I subjected myself to back in the 1980's when I sprayed my apple trees.

My thinking is if my PCa is genetic in origin then my kids have a higher reason to worry than if it was due to chemical exposure.

Does anyone here have any recommendations?

Jeff

Hi Jeff hope you're well. I've tested free at 23&me on a lupus study and at ancestry. Paul tested at ancestry. We both tested at color genomics. This one showed he had acquired tp53 in some cells at some point. Not reported on ancestry.

The results of 23 seems way more accurate to my known family history of where my family originates backed up by genealogy. There wasn't a huge difference but enough.

Paul shows he has a ton of genes related to cancer and specific to pca. The tp53 makes cancer proliferate which has shown true for sure.

You can input ancestry and 23 results into a few independent databases to get medical results which were informative. Others show admixture.

One showed I had 1% Aztec. Zero Mexican but I do have some Spanish too. Always thought was weird and laughed but this past weekend it all made sense when i reviewed a tree line I've had for over 2 years but hadn't had time to look at closely.

On my mother's dad side my 8th great grandmother is 26th great granddaughter to Charlemagne! He's descended from Monteczum the Aztec leader who fathered some European kids. Also means I'm related to pretty much all European royalty. Thank god i didn't get the Habsburg chin lol!

This also means my family were in original group of settlers in Quebec and lots is known. Quebec founders are known to have gene bottlenecks and issues. I have known this and Mayflower descended but never paid much attention. Paul has Mayflower blood too...

So ancestors genes may be noble and famous but we got the bad stuff too.

One thing I'm sad about is I'm related to tons of famous singers yet i sound like a wounded frog trying to sing!

So... there's some accuracy and some surprises. But lots of fun. Ancestry has been instrumental in the genealogy side but one distant family from 23 helped me with a lot of work on my family tree.

So bottom line is maybe you should start treating me a little better lolol!!!! ;)


Krissy

Some time ago I was tested. It said that I was male and over 50. It concluded that I either had or would have prostate cance. Lo and behold it proved to be true.

WG, I didn't test for DNA, but did test for ancestry, on Ancestry.com. It was pretty accurate. Came back 95% European Jewish, specifically, Russia, Ukraine and Poland - my grandparents were all from there.
My wife came back Turkish, which is correct. And 5% African.🙄

I'm thinking if this is something you are concerned about, hereditary predisposition to PCa, you should do a BRCA panel. They now test for 24 or 38 different mutations, your choice, and p53 is one of them.

While consulting at UCSF, I was referred to the Hereditary Cancer Clinic, part of the UCSF Center for BRCA Research.

/www.ucsfhealth.org/clinics/hereditary_cancer_clinic/index.html

Wanted to see if I might have one of the mutations that might lend themselves to other treatments, such as a PARP Inhibitor (e.g. LYNPARZA™ (olaparib)), if I might have inherited a BRCA 1/2 mutation.

The test I got was a saliva test that was sent to Ambry Genetics in Southern California. I happened to test negative on about 53 things tested. Good info to tell my kids, though.

Here's the current version of the test I got nearly a year ago.

www.ambrygen.com/tests/cancernext-expanded

They have another one, more tailored to Prostate Cancer.
(Note: The supplemental information listed at the bottom of this link is quite worthwhile to read. It contains some very good technical info about each of the genetic mutations, the findings of studies, and percentage factors pertaining to the genes in prostate cancer situations.)

www.ambrygen.com/tests/prostatenext

Charles

Thanks all who answered!
One more question...

Are the results anonymous or must they be tied to you somehow?

I don't want my genetic results ending up biting my kids in the butt when they apply for a job or insurance or medical insurance years form now. (Sadly, I can see that as a real possibility in the future.)

Jeff

Worried Guy said:

"I don't want my genetic results ending up biting my kids in the butt when they apply for a job or insurance or medical insurance years from now. (Sadly, I can see that as a real possibility in the future)."

Apparently he's right, and this is already something to be concerned about. The first article below maintains that insurance companies, while banned by law from doing so with health insurance, are already using genetic information that they get ahold of to deny certain forms of insurance coverage to people.

From the article:

"Since 2008, with the passing of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), the federal government has barred health insurance companies from denying coverage to those with a gene mutation. But the law does not apply to life insurance companies, long-term care, or disability insurance. These companies can ask about health, family history of disease, or genetic information, and reject those that are deemed too risky."

“Our biggest concern is that people aren’t aware that this information can be used against them,” says Lisa Schlager, vice president of community affairs at FORCE, a nonprofit group that supports women with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer."

"Green expects that more patients will bow out of clinical studies and genetic tests as they become aware of the downsides."

But on the brighter side:

"In the meantime, some genetic testing companies are taking steps to educate patients about their risks so they won’t be blindsided …"

https://www.fastcompany.com/3055710/if-you-want-life-insurance-think-twice-before-getting-genetic-testing

Surprisingly, the above article did not discuss the possibility that someday insurers might require applicants to submit to genetic testing before issuing insurance to them, with all the complications from that which would follow.

But here's another article that does address this question:

https://www.jrcinsurancegroup.com/does-genetic-testing-affect-life-insurance/

https://lendedu.com/blog/insurance-companies-using-data-survey/

From this second article:

"At least one insurer, the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, asks potential customers in Massachusetts about genetic testing, and stipulates that refusing to share results could lead to a declined application or an extra premium … At least for now, 12 other companies ask no explicit questions about genetic testing. But when Dr. Green asked company executives why not, he said, “at least one of them has told me, ‘We would do this, but we don’t want to be the first.’”

And:

"While lower costs for the technology behind genetic testing might benefit consumers wishing to uncover their dangers, we’d be foolish to think that insurance companies don’t have their eyes on scalability and viability in terms of potentially making genetic testing an application requirement at some point down the line."

But in the meantime maybe it's a good idea to think twice about generating genetic information about oneself, for the reasons discussed above.

https://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Testing

My wife and I did the 23 and Me DNA testing because we wanted to test for the Alzheimers gene. Thanks for the mention of the Promethease SNP analysis, which I plan to do.