Thousands of people in Finland will soon find out their genetic risk of developing common conditions such as type 2 diabetes, in a national bid to encourage healthy lifestyle changes.
Many countries are beginning to dabble with using genetic data to predict citizens’ chances of developing common diseases, but Finland is an international leader, forging ahead with one of the largest ever trials of this kind.
This has involved sequencing the genomes of around 3400 volunteers and analysing these in search of hundreds of gene variants that are linked to greater-than-average risk of developing a common disorder.
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Percentage risk
In particular, the trial is identifying people at genetic risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and venous thromboembolism – blood clots that start in a vein. “We selected these three diseases because they are both preventable and actionable,” says Heidi Marjonen of the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki.
The trial combines each person’s genetic data with information about their general health to predict those at risk. The results are due to be issued soon, in the form of “polygenic risk scores” – percentages that indicate a person’s individual risk compared with the population average.
Polygenic risk scores have been under the spotlight in the UK recently, after health minister Matt Hancock announced that genetic tests had revealed he had a fractionally higher risk of prostate cancer than most men.
The Finnish volunteers will receive their results via a secure web portal. Their reports will include a section that individuals can print out and share with their doctor, if they have concerns over the findings.
Marjonen and her team hope the risk scores will help improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The risk of developing type 2 diabetes, for example, can be reduced by adopting a healthier diet and being more active.
Unnecessary worry
The project will follow-up with participants to see if their genetic results really lead to lasting lifestyle conditions, and whether they go on to develop any of the three conditions.
However, have suggested that individuals presented with their polygenic risk scores for common diseases go on to make relatively modest changes to their lifestyles.
Some researchers believe genetic reports may be causing unnecessary worry and stress, depending on how they are presented to people. “There is definitely some evidence we are causing some anxiety,” says Saskia Sanderson of University College London.
Estonia, just across the Gulf of Finland, is another country exploring the use of polygenic risk scores.
Lili Milani of the Estonian Genome Center says the country’s ministry of social affairs is operating two trials to help implement a national personalised medicine programme. “It is quite remarkable that we are running two clinical trials on using polygenic risk scores, for coronary artery disease and breast cancer,” she says.
Earlier this year, the Estonian government committed an extra €20 million to develop personalised medicine based on genomic data.
