The Colon Club

HI,

I have pretty good insurance so I was surprised that Anthem denied a request for DPD testing - I'm on 5-FU and the medicals were concerned about some of the side effects, specifically hand foot syndrome. According to Anthem the test is "Investigational and Not Medically Necessary". Reading about the test it seems like it can provide important information. The plan without the results is to do a 20% dose reduction.

Has anyone done DPD testing? Has your insurance approved it or did you have to file a grievance? I'm not sure if its worth pursing -

I did not do DPD testing.
I'm thankful that I don't seem to have too much of an issue with 5FU.
Oxaliplatin seems to hit me harder, but mostly the blood counts.

I asked ONC about testing for DPD and he stated they just don't do it.
Reason being is that it only actually detects it 50% of the time. So the test is not too conclusive.

I asked mine and was basically told the same thing as Ben Ben. Even with the chest pains I've had they said insurance wouldn't cover and it wasn't accurate

Kobe, have you received your result from 23andme?
You can find some info there. I checked for my husband before he started Folfox.

I did get the 23andme results and it wasn't very informative - it only showed a slight increased risk of early Alzheimers and considering my family history that was expected. No other variants were detected including DPD but the site is filled with disclaimers so I don't know how reliable the results are.

Some traits were wrong - I don't favor sweet, more of a salty taste person. My index finger and second toe are not the longest and it said I didn't have red hair which I do and so do both of our kids. Other traits were correct.

From a past blood test I have MTHFR - mild variant associated with reduced folate metabolism. Not sure if that has any relevance but its on my list of questions.