Skin Health Online for Melanoma: Better Risk Assessment

This study will have two phases, with an added usability test after Phase I and before Phase 2. Phase 1: Cognitive Interviews in Spanish. Phase 2: Personalized Genomic Testing for Skin Cancer (PGT-SC).

The overarching goal of this study is to learn more about how to maximize the availability, comprehension and appropriate uptake of personalized genomics among different populations in New Mexico. The study has been funded as an R01 by NCI for three years.

Aim I: To examine the personal utility (that is, how does personal genomic testing help the individual) of Personal Genomic Testing for Skin Cancer (PGT-SC) in terms of short-term (three months after testing) sun protection, skin screening (i.e., behaviors), communication, melanoma threat and control beliefs (i.e., putative mediators of behavior change). Guided by Protection Motivation Theory, the investigators hypothesize that behaviors and putative mediators will be higher in those who test, compared to those who decline testing or wait-list controls.

Aim Ia. An important challenge of personal genomics involves the potential for those who receive "negative" genetic feedback to increase risky behaviors. To examine this potential unintended consequence of testing, the investigators will conduct a subgroup analysis among those who receive average risk PGT-SC findings, examining sun protection at three months as the outcome. Predictors will include baseline skin cancer threat and control beliefs, skin cancer risk factors, and demographics. These findings will be used in future studies to develop messages for groups that receive average risk feedback, which accounts for large segments of those tested for moderate risk susceptibility factors across many diseases.

Aim II: To examine differential reach of PGT-SC across Hispanics and Non-Hispanics, and potential explanations for any differential reach. Reach is defined as the extent to which genomic testing is spread throughout the population. Reach will be measured in individuals as the consideration of the pros and cons of testing and registration of test decision. Additional assessments of reach include baseline survey completion and decision to pursue PGT-SC testing. The investigators hypothesize that those who are self-identified Hispanic will show reduced reach, but that differences in health literacy, health system distrust, and Hispanic sociocultural factors including cancer fatalism, family health orientation, and skin cancer misperceptions will explain differences in reach between Hispanics and Non-Hispanics, and provide guidance for future PGT-SC modifications for Hispanics.

Aim III: Among those who undergo testing, to examine (two weeks after PGT-SC test result receipt) test comprehension, recall, satisfaction, and cancer-related distress, and whether these outcomes differ by ethnicity (Hispanic versus Non-Hispanic) or health literacy, distrust, sociocultural, or demographic factors. The investigators hypothesize, based on prior work delivering this intervention in primary care, the results will reflect high test comprehension, accurate feedback interpretation, and low test distress in those who get tested.

Background. Personalized genomics currently has extremely limited reach. First, most gene discovery has not engaged diverse research cohorts. Second, the few translational research efforts that address "real world" genomic challenges and opportunities have engaged those with higher socioeconomic status and health literacy. Third, ethnic and racial minorities are less likely to participate in basic genomics research, and are also less likely to utilize available genomic technologies, even when they are offered. Ideally, the investigators should all have fair access to the knowledge gained from sequencing the human genome, but if these trends continue, the investigators will know little about how to maximize availability, comprehension, and appropriate uptake of personalized genomics across large subpopulations that stand to benefit from it.

To begin to address this, The Multiplex Study led by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) used population-based recruitment strategies in Detroit, Michigan to evaluate an Internet-provided offer of genomic testing for common diseases, including melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. Study findings indicate that this approach is feasible - resulting in high test comprehension, accurate feedback interpretation, and low test distress in those who sought testing. Yet this study did not include Hispanics nor assess behavioral outcomes.

Personalized genomic testing for skin cancer (PGT-SC) is an ideal context to extend Multiplex to a new population, and new outcomes. Skin cancers are preventable, curable, very common in the general population, and disproportionately increasing in Hispanics. The NHGRI Multiplex Study offered testing for melanoma risk via the melanocortin 1 receptor gene (MC1R) because MC1R is common in the general population (50% >1 high risk variant), interacts with sun exposure, and confers risk (2-3 fold; consistent with most moderate risk variants), even in those with darker skin types. MC1R feedback is a promising vehicle to raise risk awareness and protective behavior in the general population, including Hispanics who are largely unaware of their melanoma risks. The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial examining internet presentation of the risks and benefits of PGT-SC (shown to be feasible in Multiplex) versus wait-list controls who are not offered testing, comparing personal utility and reach in a general population, English or Spanish-speaking cohort in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where there is year-round sun exposure.

Phase 1 data is not reported in the Results section because the goal of Phase 1 was to finalize the Spanish translation of the intervention/data collection instruments.