Look before you leap to DNA testing
By George Alleyne
University of the West Indies
professor, Dr. Tara Inniss, recently
said that her research has
shown that DNA testing companies
target Caribbean, American
and other black people of
the diaspora because most are
descendants of enslaved persons
and know little of their ancestral
history.
While not seeking to deter
anyone from taking the tests, she
is advising such curious descendants
to be careful as they fall for
the specialised advertising and
opt to use the service because
the companies retain that personal
information as their property,
which could then be used
for other purposes.
Additionally, when a person
does a DNA test it often reveals
information of other family
members who did not request
the service.
Genetics Home Reference
describes DNA, or deoxyribonucleic
acid, as the hereditary material
in humans and almost all
other organisms. “Nearly every
cell in a person’s body has the
same DNA. Most DNA is located
in the cell nucleus.”
This means that a DNA test
may reveal not only a hereditary
chain but also race and these features
of blood relatives will also
be exposed.
Historian Dr. Inniss who has
been looking at issues of DNA
testing, the perception of DNA
testing, how DNA testing has
been used to market, especially,
people of African descent in and
people in the Caribbean, has said
persons should make themselves
aware of all factors before taking
the test because that information
is owned by the testing company
providing the service.
“When you provide the sample,
even if you request it to be
destroyed afterwards, it becomes
the property of the company.
“You may own your DNA for
your lifetime but that sample, or
the information derived is theirs
forever and since that sample
represents genetic information,
the company owns that as well as
even if family members did not
provide consent.”
She pointed to a recent case
of pharmaceutical giant, Glaxo-
SmithKline purchasing shares
in one of the leading DNA testing
companies and now has access
to all the data the company had
amassed from previous tests.
Caribbean Life, F 24 ebruary 14-20, 2020
Possession of this information
by a pharmaceutical company
can be used as its intellectual
property and as guidelines in
developing other products.
DNA tests are pursued by
persons wanting to know about
their racial composition or hopefully
find family members.
“Caribbean descendant persons,
especially those of African
descent are increasingly being
solicited for their genetic information
for the purpose of genealogical
and ancestry research.
“In 2017 more than 12 million
persons mailed saliva samples
for genetic testing. We still find
subscribers, especially among
African-descendant persons in
Europe, North America and the
Caribbean, many of whom have
enslaved ancestors.”
She added, “for this reason
alone the prospect of genealogical
DNA testing is attractive for
lay family historians because of
the perception that it can unlock
this unknowable past.
“But some of these family
lines only stretch back so far into
family trees and are not usually
not any further than the mid-
18th Century, for which we have
very limited documentary sources
to prove family relationships
especially for enslaved ancestors
who were anonymously traded
into our Caribbean slave societies
through the trans-Atlantic
slave trade, were often not mentioned
by a traceable name in
records or represented in any
kind of family group.
“The oral traditions that many
families rely on are often broken
by silences that mediate politics
and respectability after emancipation
that labelled illegitimacy
as inferior and one’s racial origins
as being subordinate.
“So, for generations of Caribbean
people the past seemed
tangled, warped and unknowable.
“The promise of genealogical
testing is that it will help to
untangle, unwarp that past and
make it knowable.”
Dr. Tara Inniss. Photo by George Alleyne
Types and typical victims of
prostate cancer
Most forms of the disease
progress slowly and are highly
treatable. However, prostate
cancer is deadly, and it kills
quickly. Once a patient’s cancer
reaches its fourth and final stage,
the five-year survival rate is is a
dismal 29 percent.
Two groups of men are
particularly susceptible to prostate
cancer: those over the age of 70,
and African-American men. The
latter are 1.6 times more likely
to develop the disease than white
men, and 2.6 times more likely to
experience prostate cancer than
Asian-American men.
Prostate cancer: Symptoms
and diagnosis
Most alarming is that many
patients with the disease don’t
experience any symptoms.
Experts like Dr. Joshua Halpern
of the Accord Physicians Group
recommends that all men, especially
African Americans, be screened
regularly for prostate cancer by a
doctor once they reach age 40.
Dr. Halpern is a certified radiation
oncologist who received his
oncology training at Roswell Park
Cancer Institute and MD Anderson
Cancer Center, the nation’s leading
cancer treatment center. He has
treated all forms of cancer for more
than 40 years, and has had handson
experience with thousands of
prostate cancer patients. He explains
the processes that urologists use to
diagnose and confirm the disease.
The first step in the rigorous
process of diagnosing prostate
cancer is to draw blood and conduct
a Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA)
test. PSA is a protein naturally
produced in men’s prostate glands,
and abnormally-high PSA levels
may indicate the presence of
prostate cancer, although they
could also be signs of other prostate
issues such as inflammation or
enlargement.
Normal levels of the protein are
usually in the 0.0–4.0 range. But
once the PSA levels are greater than
4.0, Dr. Halpern says, the normal
procedure is to recommend a
biopsy during which a small section
of prostate tissue is removed and
examined for signs of cancer.
Dr. Halpern explains that if
the biopsy results are positive for
prostate cancer, the next step is
to consult a radiation oncologist.
At Accord Physicians Group, he
and his fellow physicians work in
close collaboration to decide on a
course of action.
Prostate cancer treatment
Dr. Halpern is one of the first
oncologists to use a form of treatment
called Image Guided Radiation
Therapy (IGRT). It is completely
non-invasive, and involves 45
10-minute sessions during which a
short beam of radiation is targeted
directly at the inside of the prostate.
“Published reports on IMRT/
IGRT radiation, with careful
administration, have shown the best
results and the lowest toxicity,” says
Dr. Halpern. “In our experience,
tumor control is very high and
tolerance to our treatment is nearly
universal.”
Excellent results of the cancer
control as well as the low side effect
profile are due to the fascinating
physics of this radiation therapy.
The plan that’s used to deliver
the radiotherapy is individually
and specifically designed for each
person. It takes into account the
differences that all people have in
relation to their size, muscle to body
fat ratio, and the physical size of the
prostate and the surrounding organs.
It also takes into consideration any
anatomic changes that may have
occurred due to previous pelvic
surgeries, trauma, and anatomic
abnormalities such as inguinal
hernias. After this detailed plan is
complete, the treatment therapy
begins. On a daily basis during
the therapy, the equipment and
the technician who delivers the
radiation performs a daily minute
adjustment to precisely deliver the
radiotherapy despite differences
such as contents of the colon and the
amount of urine in the bladder at the
time of treatment.
Once IGRT therapy has been
completed, the patient usually
exhibits dramatically lower PSA
levels, indicating that the cancer is
either gone or is fully in remission.
In the occasional case when PSA
levels remain extremely high, the
oncologist will meet regularly
with the patient to track progress
and discuss options. All medical
personnel at Accord Physicians
Group have received special training
to ensure the patient’s comfort
during and after treatment, and to
respectfully and compassionately
assist him with the emotional
effects of a cancer diagnosis and
treatment.
Accord Physicians Group and
prostate cancer
Dr. Halpern states, “Over the
last 10 years we treated hundreds
of prostate cancer patients at
Accord Physicians.” He elaborates,
that “Our cure and remission rates
are between 93 and 95 percent
over this 10-year period, and our
side effect profile is well below the
national average.”
Dr. Halpern urges all men —
particularly African-American
men over the age of 40 — to be
screened regularly for prostate
cancer.
Accord Physicians PLLC
2270 Kimball St #101, Brooklyn,
NY 11234
For more information visit
www.accordmd.com
To schedule consultation
with doctor Halpern
call 718-808-9383
BUS I N E S S , B ROOK LYN S T Y LE – A DV E RTI S E M E NT
How to outsmart prostate cancer!
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in America, ranking only behind skin cancer — and it will affect one out of
every nine American men during their lifetime. In fact, research has shown that more than half of all men in the United States
over the age of 70 are now living with some form of prostate cancer.
/www.accordmd.com
/www.accordmd.com