Who reads my genomic test results?
The sequencing lab generates the report and an automated engine attaches candidate therapies. Interpretation is then meant to happen with your oncologist, and in some centers with a molecular tumor board. In practice, the full report is often filed after a brief summary, and variants of unknown significance are rarely revisited.
The chain, and where it breaks
The lab detects and classifies alterations. The report matches those alterations to therapies and trials using a rules engine. Your oncologist reads the summary in a clinic visit measured in minutes and decides what is relevant. Nothing in that chain is wrong, but the time available for the middle step is the constraint.
Oncologists carry large panels of patients and are accountable for the whole of a person's care. Sitting with fifteen pages of variant data is not something the schedule accommodates for every case.
What a dedicated read adds
Reading the report against your actual treatment history, checking whether co-occurring alterations predict resistance, deciding whether a negative result is genuinely negative given tissue quality, re-checking variants that have been reclassified since the report was issued, and running a trial search that is not filtered by one institution's portfolio.
Related questions
Can I get a copy of my full genomic report?
Yes. You are entitled to the complete report, not just the summary. Ask for the full PDF including the appendix and variant list.
Does the testing company interpret my results?
The company classifies variants and lists candidate therapies algorithmically. It does not know your treatment history or make individualized recommendations.
Should older reports be re-read?
Often yes. Variant classifications and available therapies change, so reports more than a year or two old sometimes contain newly actionable findings.
Reviewed 2026-08-13 by Kim Lockheimer, PhD, DFM.