Privacy-preserving genomic testing in the clinic: a model using HIV treatment. Genetics in Medicine
McLaren et al. used DNA-based prediction of HIV-related outcomes to test the applicability of privacy-preserving techniques for genetic testing with ancestry inference and delivery of interpreted information to clinicians. The authors tested 17 phenotypes relevant for patients with HIV in 230 patients. The proportion of positive results ranged from 0 to 54%, and 98% of patients had at least 1 positive result. The majority (53%) of physicians reported that the test results were useful or potentially useful but only a minority (42%) reported that they would discuss these results with the patients. Only 10% of physicians reported that they would have prescribed a different first-line regimen if given the genetic results in advance.
In conclusion, the strategy successfully implemented in this pilot study allows the secure storage and analysis of large-scale genetic data, as well as the targeted delivery of specific subsets of test results to the clinic.