When “Actionable” Genomic Sequencing Results Cannot Be Acted Upon

September 23, 2016 | In a first person article in JAMA Oncology published yesterday, Brian J. Zikmund-Fisher, from the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan, recounts his experience with a patient who participated in the genomic sequencing of her cancerous tumor, received news that her tumor was “an actionable mutation,” and was then denied participation in an existing clinical trial that fit her needs. Zikmund-Fisher stresses the heart-breaking truth that, while sequencing results might be “actionable” in terms of expanding medical knowledge, it is not always the case as it applies to the individual. JAMA Oncology