Medical Oncologist
CION Cancer Clinics
Carrying your pharmacogenomic result into future care | CION Cancer Clinics
A drug-gene result reads the genes you were born with, so it stays true for the rest of your life. It only protects you if the next doctor, dentist or pharmacist can see it. This page explains which details on the report matter, simple ways to keep it with you, what can change over the years, and why a transfusion or a donor transplant affects later testing. At CION Cancer Clinics, our team helps carriers and their families plan checks, next steps and support after a genetic result.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Naresh GunduConsultant Medical Oncologist · MBBS, DNB (Internal Medicine), DM (Medical Oncology, AIIMS) · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
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On this page
- Why should I keep my drug-gene result for life?
- What details from the report does a future doctor need?
- How do I make sure every doctor sees it?
- The words you will meet, in plain language
- What stays fixed, and what can change over time?
- What this page cannot tell you
- Four things patients tell us, and what is actually true
- Common questions about keeping a drug-gene result
The short answer
Why should I keep my drug-gene result for life?
Because it does not change. A drug-gene test reads the genes you were born with, so the result is as true in twenty years as it is today. It only protects you if the doctor holding the prescription pad can see it, and that doctor may not be the one who ordered the test.
The result travels further than the treatment
A test ordered before chemotherapy can matter years later. A slow DPYD, TPMT or CYP2D6 result can affect medicines for pain, infection, mood, the heart or bowel disease. The cardiologist, the dentist and the doctor in a district hospital emergency room will not know unless you tell them.
Why results get lost in India
Records often stay in the hospital where the test was done. Families change hospitals, move between Hyderabad and a district town, or see a new doctor privately. Paper reports fade, get filed with old scans, or sit with the relative who paid. A result nobody can find is the same as no result at all.
Treat this report like a blood group card. It is short, it is permanent and it matters most in an emergency.What to write down
What details from the report does a future doctor need?
A doctor looking at your result for the first time needs more than the word "abnormal". These four things let them act on it.
The gene and the result
The gene name, and the plain label the report gives, such as poor metaboliser or intermediate activity. Copy the star codes exactly if the report lists them.
The medicines it affects
Most reports name the drugs the result applies to. Write those down. This is the part a busy prescriber will actually read.
What was and was not tested
A normal result covers only the genes on that test, and only the variants the lab looked for. It is not a clean result for every medicine.
Note also
- The laboratory's name
- The date of the report
- Whether it was a gene test or an enzyme test
Anything that affected the sample
A blood transfusion or a donor bone marrow transplant can change what a blood test shows. If either happened, note when, and whether the test was done before or after.
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistPractical steps
How do I make sure every doctor sees it?
Keep the original and two copies
Store the original with your important papers. Keep one copy in the file you take to hospital visits, and give one to the family member who comes with you.
Photograph it on more than one phone
A clear photo on your phone and on a family member's phone means the result can be shown in an emergency, or sent on WhatsApp to a doctor who asks.
Link it to your digital health record
If you have an ABHA number under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, ask whether the report can be linked to it, so other hospitals can find it.
Say it before every new prescription
Tell every doctor, dentist and pharmacist, in one sentence: "I have a gene result that affects some medicines." Then show them the report.
On your report
The words you will meet, in plain language
- Pharmacogenomic result
- A test showing how your inherited genes affect the way your body handles certain medicines.
- Genotype
- The exact gene versions you carry, often written as star codes. They are the raw finding.
- Phenotype
- What the genotype means in practice, such as poor, intermediate, normal or rapid. This is the label most doctors act on.
- Actionable
- The result would change the choice or dose of at least one medicine.
- Germline
- Present in every cell from birth, and so unchanged for life. The opposite of a tumour result, which describes the cancer only.
- Reinterpretation
- A fresh reading of an old result against newer guidelines. The genes do not change, but advice on what to do with them can.
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Side by side
What stays fixed, and what can change over time?
Stays the same for life
Can change over the years
The genes you inherited
The list of medicines linked to those genes
Your genotype, as the lab read it
How guidelines advise acting on that genotype
The need to show it to every prescriber
Other medicines you take that alter the same enzyme
Its relevance to blood relatives
Enzyme test readings after a transfusion
Being straight with you
What this page cannot tell you
It cannot tell you which of your future medicines your result affects. That depends on the gene, your exact result and the drug in question. The prescribing doctor, with your report in hand, is the right person to decide.
It cannot update an old report for you
Drug-gene guidance is revised as new studies appear. A result from some years ago may now apply to more medicines, or be read slightly differently. What your specific result means today is a question for your oncologist, or for the doctor or counsellor who ordered the test.
Who this does not apply to
This is about inherited drug-gene results only. A tumour mutation report, used to choose targeted drugs, describes the cancer and can change over time. It is not a lifelong result in the same way. If you have never had a drug-gene test, there is nothing here for you to carry, and most people treated for cancer have not needed one.
After a donor stem cell transplant, a new blood test may read the donor's genes, not yours. Your pre-transplant result usually still applies to how your liver handles medicines.Commonly believed
Four things patients tell us, and what is actually true
"Treatment is over, so the report does not matter any more."
The result outlives the treatment it was ordered for. It can affect common medicines for pain, mood, infection and the heart for the rest of your life.
"The hospital has it on file, so every doctor will see it."
Hospital systems in India rarely share records with each other. A doctor in another hospital, or in a district clinic, will usually only see it if you show it to them.
"My result was normal, so I can throw it away."
A normal result is useful too. It saves you from being tested again, and it tells a future doctor that a standard dose is reasonable for the genes that were checked.
"I should test again in a few years in case it changed."
Inherited genes do not change. Repeat testing is only needed if the first test was incomplete, the lab was unreliable, or a newer test covers genes the first one did not.
Questions we are asked
Common questions about keeping a drug-gene result
Does my drug-gene result ever expire?
No. The genes it reads are the ones you were born with, so the finding stays true for life. What can change is the advice built on it, as guidelines are updated. Keep the report and ask your doctor to check it against current advice when a new medicine is being considered.
Should I tell my dentist and pharmacist?
Yes. Dentists prescribe pain medicines and antibiotics, and pharmacists dispense across many prescribers. Both are well placed to spot a medicine your result affects. A short sentence and a photo of the report is enough.
Can I get a wallet card for my result?
Some laboratories provide one. If yours does not, write the gene, the result and the affected medicines on a card and keep it with your blood group card or Aadhaar. A clear phone photo of the full report is a good back-up.
Does my family need to know about my result?
It can help them. Parents, brothers, sisters and children may share the same gene version. They do not need testing now, but if one of them is ever prescribed the same medicine, knowing your result helps their doctor decide whether to test first.
I had a blood transfusion. Is my result still valid?
A gene test from blood is usually still valid after an ordinary transfusion. An enzyme activity test, such as some TPMT or G6PD tests, can read the donor's red cells for a while. Tell the lab about any recent transfusion before the sample is taken.
What about after a bone marrow transplant from a donor?
After a donor transplant, your blood cells carry the donor's genes. A new blood test would describe the donor, not you. Keep your pre-transplant result, and ask your transplant team which sample type they would use if a new test were ever needed.
My report is in English. How do I explain it at home?
Ask the doctor to explain it once in Telugu or your own language, and write the key line beside it: which gene, which medicines. The family member who handles prescriptions should know that line by heart.
Where should the original report be kept?
With your most important documents, not in a bag of old scans. Keep copies in your hospital file and with the family member who comes to appointments, so it is never only in one place.
Your Specialists
Meet CION's oncologists. Bring your family history or genetic report to them.
Our medical oncologists see people with a strong family history of cancer, arrange genetic counselling and testing where it fits, and plan the checks that follow.
Medical Oncologist
Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy
MBBS(Gold Medal), DNB(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Gold Medal)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
Medical Oncologist
Medical Oncologist
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Sources
- MedlinePlus Genetics — What is pharmacogenomics?
- MedlinePlus — Pharmacogenetic Tests
- Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) — Guidelines
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration — Table of Pharmacogenomic Biomarkers in Drug Labeling
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
Keep reading
Related pages
What a poor metaboliser result meansUnderstand the label before you pass it onIntermediate metaboliser results and doseWhy an in-between result still needs to travel with youWhy your genes change your doseThe basics of drug-gene testing, in plain wordsG6PD deficiency and cancer drugsOne result every future prescriber must know about
Talk to us
Holding a drug-gene report and not sure what it applies to?
Bring the report and your current list of medicines. An oncologist will go through which of them it affects. One helpline serves every CION centre.