Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Genomic sequencing is a relatively new type of genetic test that looks broadly at most of an individual's genetic code. This test can be used to identify whether people are at risk for hereditary conditions, such as hereditary cancer syndromes. This can be useful for making decisions about how patients and their family members are managed clinically. However, genomic sequencing can also identify genetic predisposition for many other types of diseases, called "incidental results." Incidental results are very uncertain. It is uncertain if or even when the diseases associated with them will occur. Patients deciding if they would like to learn these types of results, and what types of incidental results they would like to learn, may feel uncertain. This study used qualitative interviews to explore how adults who had a history of cancer experienced uncertainty when making decisions about learning incidental genomic sequencing results. Fifteen participants were interviewed. From interviews, it was found that experiences with cancer uncertainty helped participants accept uncertainty related to incidental results. Participants viewed incidental results as valuable information, even though the information could be uncertain. Participants felt prepared to manage uncertainty in a variety of ways, such as through information seeking, support from healthcare providers, or trying not to focus on uncertainty. In conclusion, cancer experiences fostered participants' tolerance of uncertainty related to incidental results, and heightened the perceived value of incidental results.These findings provide insight into how patients experience uncertainty when considering learning incidental results from genomic sequencing, which could inform genetic counseling for incidental results.