Amanda Wilde (Host): Knowing your genetics can make the difference in your healthcare decisions. Today, we'll talk about what genetic counseling is all about and how it can affect you and your family. My guest is First Health Oncology Genetic Counselor, Harleigh Quick. Welcome to First Health and Wellness Podcast, connecting you to the people and medical services that make your life healthier.

I'm Amanda Wilde. Harleigh, it's great to talk with you about this because there have been such advances in identifying genetic mutations and perhaps stopping disease before it starts. So let's start with, what is genetic counseling and why would a person need that?

Harleigh Quick, MMSc: Yeah. Thank you for having me. So genetic counseling is the process of helping people understand and adapt to genetic illness and how that can affect their medical and psychological needs and their family. So the process of genetic counseling includes multiple things such as interpreting medical and family histories, education about genetics and genetic testing and counseling to help the patient adapt and make informed decisions regarding their healthcare.

There are many instances where a person may benefit from seeing a genetic counselor and just to name a few; someone may see a genetic counselor if they have a personal or family history of a genetic condition, or if they have certain health problems that are suspicious of a genetic condition.

Someone who is pregnant and would like more information on the health of the fetus or in the area that I work in, cancer genetics. Someone may see a cancer genetic counselor if they have a certain cancer diagnosis or they have a certain family history of cancer.

Host: Well, as I said, there've been a lot of advances in that area, I think just in the last 10 years, in particular in breast cancer diagnosis.

Harleigh Quick, MMSc: Yes, for sure. And I can only see genetic counseling growing even more in oncology care in the future.

Host: Well, what sorts of tests are available today and how might they help people make better healthcare decisions?

Harleigh Quick, MMSc: There are several types of clinical genetic tests available. I stress that word clinical, because these tests are different from the testing that a person can order themselves online. But these clinical tests are ordered by medical professionals and are used to make medical decisions unlike direct-to-consumer testing.

 But each type of these clinical genetic tests are a little different in what genetic material it analyzes and depending on why a person is receiving genetic counseling; different tests may be offered. So there are some tests that look at one or more single genes to determine if there is a genetic change in the building blocks of a person's DNA that can affect their risk for a genetic condition.

Another type of testing is chromosomal testing that analyzes whole chromosomes or lengths of DNA. There are genetic tests that are offered to pregnant people that use circulating fetal DNA to give more information about the health of the fetus. There are genetic tests that are done in a person's tumor to gain more information about how it can be treated.

So long story short, there are many different types of genetic tests and no test is alike. There is no one genetic test that can be used in every single case, and so that's why it's super important to speak with a genetic professional, like a genetic counselor, to help guide you on what tests would be the most helpful for you and your family.

But the results of these tests can impact a person's healthcare decisions, and so it can give more information about what treatment may be the best or what special doctors they need to see or how they might want to make family planning decisions. So the information gained from these tests is super important.

Host: And how does genetic counseling influence decisions made in your field, oncology care?

Harleigh Quick, MMSc: So I think genetic counseling plays a super important role in oncology care. You know, a person's risk for cancer can be influenced by many different factors, but one of the big factors is genetics. At the First Health Cancer Center, I meet with people who have a certain personal or family history of cancer.

We review their personal and family history to determine if there is a risk for that person to have a hereditary cancer condition. I then work closely with our oncologists and surgeons to order genetic testing, and the results of that genetic testing can influence a person's treatment or surgery plan.

Additionally, it can give their family members information that could help them to prevent cancer. So overall, I think genetic counseling in oncology care creates a more personalized treatment plan for that patient, while also empowering their entire family to make important, even life-saving decisions that could help them prevent cancer.

 Our mission here at First Health is to care for people. And I, I think genetic counseling helps to do that by, providing patients with individualized care.

Host: Yeah, individualized on your genes and knowledge is power in terms of deciding how you move forward in terms of treatment and family planning and what specialists you consult. You alluded to this earlier, what is next in the field? How, how will things advance in the next five to 10 years?

Harleigh Quick, MMSc: I can only imagine that genetic counseling will keep growing. The term genetic counseling was first used in as early as the 1940s or so, and the first genetic counseling graduate program was founded in 1969. So, when we think about the grand scheme of medicine as a whole, genetic counseling is a newer field, but in that time, genetic counseling has grown exponentially.

Genetic counselors started mainly in general genetics clinics or prenatal clinics, but now you can find genetic counselors in many different areas such as oncology, cardiology, pharmacogenetics, neurology, research, and many more places. I think this growth will continue in the future. We're now even starting to see genetic counselors in primary care settings, and I think that will only become more popular.

Host: Sounds like we can expect exponential growth in this field.

Harleigh Quick, MMSc: For sure and as new technology and genetic testing advances, the need for genetic counselors will only grow even more. So in five to 10 years, I think the access to genetic care will be readily available, and that's an exciting future.

Host: It is. Harleigh, thank you so much for your expertise and insight into the role of genetic testing and counseling and healthcare.

Harleigh Quick, MMSc: Of course. Thank you for having me. I love talking about this topic.

Host: That was First Health Oncology Genetic Counselor, Harleigh Quick. To learn more about genetic counseling at First Health visit www.NCcancercare.org. Thank you for listening to First Health and Wellness Podcast, brought to you by First Health of the Carolinas.

We look forward to you joining us again.