23andMe shouldn't be flying solo in genetic testing: Dr. Marc Siegel
Genetic testing company, 23andMe, may mislead some people about the risk of breast cancer, and Fox News Medical Correspondent, Dr. Marc Siegel, said it’s not wise to rely solely on the company for health-related information.
“Genetic testing is very serious business,” he told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on Friday. “It should be done by doctors. They should be involved.”
Last year The US Food and Drug Administration gave the DNA testing company approval to test for genetic mutations in BRCA genes, which is a high-risk gene people carry for breast, ovarian, colon, and pancreatic cancers. But Dr. Siegel said unlike doctors that conduct a multi-gene analysis, 23andMe only tests for three BRCA genetic mutations.
“I don't want 23andMetesting it,” he said. “Because it misses it 90 percent of the time… because there's a thousand variants of BRCA.”
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Dr. Siegel said people should see a doctor if they believe that they or someone in their family may have breast cancer.
Clarification:
*Dr. Siegel's view on 23andMetesting accuracy was incorrectly summed up in our story and has been corrected.
**Following the publication of our story, 23andMe contacted FOX Business to voice their disagreement with the views expressed in our segment. In FOX Business' follow-up conversation with Dr. Siegel, he stands by his professional opinion, reiterating these genetic testing options should generally be done in conjunction with physician awareness, not as a stand-alone test.