Is there any value in DIY genetic testing for glaucoma?

 

Take-home message: Do-it-yourself testing for glaucoma, if and when available, is of limited diagnostic value to clinicians, explained one physician familiar with the technology.

 

 

By Nancy Groves; Reviewed by Wallace L.M. Alward, MD

Iowa City, IA-Genetic testing for glaucoma is useful in some cases, but is most likely to yield clinically valuable information when ordered by a physician and performed by a certified laboratory.

Do-it-yourself genetic testing, if available, is of little benefit since no one, including physicians, is certain how to interpret risk genes discovered out of context, said Wallace L.M. Alward, MD.

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For now, ophthalmologists do not need to worry about how to respond to patients who are concerned with the results of a test they had performed through a personal genome service since these companies have been blocked from marketing their products for medical purposes. Test providers, such as 23andMe, can provide customers with information about their genetic makeup based on blood tests but cannot provide disease risk profiles pending FDA regulatory approval.

 “I’m enthusiastic that understanding glaucoma genetics will one day have a huge impact on diagnosis and therapeutics, but self-testing [in 2015] doesn’t hold promise for glaucoma diagnosis,” said Dr. Alward, the Frederick C. Blodi Chair in Ophthalmology; vice chairman, ophthalmology; director, Glaucoma Service; and professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City.

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