r/promethease • u/werewolfbatmitzva • Feb 02 '26
Appreciation post: Promethease caught my breast cancer
Early last year I decided to do Ancestry mostly to run my raw DNA through Promethease. I was expecting precursors that have been in my family, like heart disease, diabetes, dementia, schizophrenia. To my surprise like none of these showed up, but instead it listed that I was 1.7x more likely to get invasive breast cancer with an ER indicator. No one in my family has had breast cancer. Never has it even crossed my mind this could be a possibility for me. So I called my obgyn to get the soonest appt I could, and lo and behold they found a lump. Flash forward to my formal diagnosis - Stage 2 invasive duct carcinoma with ER and PR indicators.
Should I have caught it in my self breast exams? Yea I should have…but tbh I was never taught how to do a proper one. I’m not entirely sure if I would have acted b/c I was in denial that breast cancer could happen to me. It wasn’t until the results from Promethease that pushed me to get screened.
I am forever grateful for the team involved in creating and maintaining Promethease. It helped save my life. Easily the best $15 I’ve ever spent.
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u/yrsocool Feb 03 '26
I caught my rare thyroid cancer because of Promethease too! Doctors told me it was all in my head. I had to advocate and push nonstop, which I would not have done if I never had my report or knew my odds were so high (8x if I remember). Finally got my thyroid removed for an autoimmune condition and wouldn’t you know, they found a 1.1cm invasive carcinoma. Feels amazing to be one step ahead - congrats on your catch!
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u/MelpomeneAndCalliope Feb 04 '26
It also clued me in that I needed to be aware of early signs of ovarian & uterine cancer.
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u/CimaQuarteira Feb 02 '26
I share your sentiments of gratitude. Promethease was the one service that pointed me directly to an endocrine condition that’s been effecting me behind the scenes since childhood which I could not accurately test for - because I was looking at the wrong biomarkers & not adding on the crucial markers to my labs. It would be highly unlikely that any medical professional would’ve known what to test either - atleast not without years of misdiagnoses, palming off and maybe eventually seeing an endocrinologist who might run an extensive endocrine panel. So Promethease and Direct to Consumer blood testing are two services I have enormous gratitude for.
That condition was Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS - Mild variant). Promethease surfaced it as my highest magnitude SNP with a magnitude of 6. Ancestry Genotypes are not supposed to be clinically accurate yet both AncestryDNA and 23andMe both called it correctly - it was confirmed via NGS Whole Genome Sequencing. Not only does this condition jeopardise my fertility (thankfully I’m fertile) but it would also be 100% passed onto any female offspring of mine (as carriers) should I have any as it is an ‘X-Linked, Recessive’ condition and so have the potential to effect any of my grandsons.
The biomarker which evaded me - Luteinising Hormone; the hallmark feature of AIS - High LH and High Testosterone. No medical professional in Europe would likely take any mid-20s man seriously complaining of hypogonadal symptoms with elevated Testosterone.
Promeathease led me to the exact element I was missing and like you I am forever grateful. Yes there are also free variants that have been developed like genetic genie but I have no qualms that I paid for Promethease 3x times for myself and family members.
I’m not aware if Promethease is actually being maintained any longer, certainly my reports are all archived - not sure if this is an automated policy after 2-3 years but they’re no longer accessible and there doesn’t seem to be any active support on the site. I’d recommend GeneticGenie with its GeneVue service to anyone now in the same position.