One place that has received, and certainly will continue to receive calls is the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., one of the premier facilities for the treatment of cancer. Caryn Lerman, Ph.D., is a professor of medicine and psychiatry and the director of the cancer genetics program at Georgetown. It is her job, and that of her staff, to counsel individuals before and after they are tested. Lerman also directs laboratory research and structures educational programming. Her clinic provides clinical genetic testing for breast and colon cancer.
Counseling begins before the first drop of blood is drawn.
Often, the only information a potential patient may have received is through the news media. Lerman said individuals are asked if the news they have received was sufficient or if they want to know more. People are told about the potential risks of having the test, including the possibility of discrimination by insurance companies who may use the evidence of a mutated gene as a preexisting condition and thus deny insurance benefits to that individual. We don't tell people what they should do.'' Sufficient information is given to the patient who in turn must make an informed, intelligent and educated decision. After the test, a simple blood test, the results are interpreted.