Dr. Boutros on the Utility of Genetic Testing in Prostate Cancer

Paul C. Boutros, PhD, MBA, professor in the Departments of Human Genetics and Urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), director of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Cancer Data Science program, and associate director of cancer informatics at the UCLA Institute for Precision Health, discusses the utility of genetic testing in prostate cancer.

The role of genetic testing continues to expand in prostate cancer ​with updated guidelines and a number of ongoing ​clinical trials ​refining the utility of testing, Boutros says.

Notably, germline testing is critical if a patient has a strong family history of cancer. Moreover, if a patient has de novo metastatic, high-risk localized, or recurrent metastatic disease, genetic testing is indicated, Boutros adds.

Somatic testing, which evaluates the molecular complexity unique to individual tumor cells​, is also available. For example, the Decipher assay may have a role in managing patients with local disease​. ​However, the Decipher test is not required or used in the same abundance as germline testing, Boutros concludes.