Paradoxes of genetic testing for cancer susceptibility: Empowerment and risk

Abstract

The 21st century is recognized as the age of genetics due to significant discoveries that have revolutionized the understanding of the human genome. This turn largely determined the possibilities of modern preventive medicine, including the ability to diagnose the likelihood of disease on the basis of analysis of human genes. For cancer treatment, a serious disease recognized as socially significant, these discoveries provided new resources in the fight against the disease, which, ultimately, should lead to a reduction in morbidity and mortality. However, the emergence of this treatment technology has offered new questions related to ethical, social, economic, cultural and other aspects of genetic testing for cancer susceptibility. The article is devoted to the social aspects of genetic testing for susceptibility to breast cancer (mutations in the BRCA1/2 genes). Readers are offered a brief overview of the existing research areas, and also proposed an analysis of the paradoxes arising due to the development of genetic testing technology.