Chief scientific officer of deCODE, Jeff Gulcher (48) takes a deCODEme scan that indicates he has a very high risk bracket for prostate cancer. Taking his results to a urologist may have saved his life.
Rick Weiss of the Washington Post reports:
Jeffrey Gulcher had no reason to think much about prostate cancer. He was just 48, and the disease typically strikes later in life. Even the most cautious medical groups agree that most men need not begin annual prostate screenings until age 50.
But Gulcher happens to be the chief scientific officer of deCODE Genetics — one of several companies that, amid some controversy, have begun offering direct-to-consumer DNA tests that can help people predict which diseases they are likely to get. So in April, he spat into a test tube and, without giving the matter much thought, sent the sample in for analysis by his own company.
He was in for a shock.
| Tags: deCODE, deCODEme, Jeff Gulcher, Prostate Cancer, Washington Post. 
