DANVILLE, Pa. — Geisinger says its MyCode initiative has one of the largest genetic databases in the world, and it continues to grow. The health project recently reached a milestone of enrolling 300,000 patients. The research project is focused on studying the relationship between genetics and health in families.
"About 2 to 3 percent of those that participate in MyCode are expected to get a genomic result, and to date, we've returned almost 3,000 results to patients participating," said Dr. Alyson Evans, a Geisinger genetic counselor.
Jeff Mylet of Berwick is one of those patients. He enrolled in MyCode in 2017.
"Nothing happened for four years, and then in the early spring of 2021, I got the results back for the genetic mutation for the thyroid cancer," Mylet said.
Mylet had been on thyroid medication for about 20 years. After meeting with his doctors, he decided to have his thyroid removed as a preventative measure.
"We have found since this is done, obviously, it is genetics, and our son has it, and he's going to be scheduled to have his thyroid removed preventatively. He's a young man but still."
"The experience of Jeff and his family is sort of that best potential outcome of participating in genomic research. MyCode is not a substitute for any clinical genetics consult or clinical genetics testing," Dr. Evans added.
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