Precision Medicine in Oncology®

Suzanne Fuqua, PhD, from the Baylor College of Medicine, on the Utilization of Predictive Biomarkers

Elaine Mardis, from the Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine, on Sensitivity to Aromatase Inhibitors

The development of targeted therapies for a variety of tumor types has highlighted a greater need for widespread molecular testing to determine which patients have the mutations that these therapies target.

Dr. Roy S. Herbst, from Yale Cancer Center, Explores Molecular Testing in Lung Cancer

Amid a continuing debate over healthcare spending in the United States, the oncology community is growing more introspective about the costs associated with increasingly sophisticated cancer therapeutics.

Dr. David Gandara, from University of California, Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses using the multiplexing assay for patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Tivantinib has demonstrated statistically significant improvements in time to progression and overall survival versus placebo among patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

An effort to nurture the drug development skills of young oncologists as they explore a novel targeted agent has gained support from the Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Melinda L. Telli, MD, is actively involved in clinical research that focuses on DNA repair targeted therapeutics for the treatment of triple-negative and BRCA1/2 mutation-associated breast cancer.

Expression levels of thymidylate synthase may help point the way to new treatment options for patients with ALK-positive NSCLC, including combination therapy.

In spite of the setbacks, researchers remain hopeful that a better understanding of the mechanism of action for PARP inhibitors will lead to effective treatment of a wide variety of cancers.

As the molecular understanding of breast cancer continues to evolve, the search for treatment targets based upon tumor subtypes and gene expression patterns is intensifying.

Research presented at ASCO 2012 examined the expanded use of sipuleucel-T, as well as methods to determine which patients might benefit the most from the therapy.

Dr. Michael Rotkowitz, from Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Defines Personalized Medicine

Dr. Lowell Anthony from the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center on Targeted Therapy Associated Diarrhea.

The FDA has approved cetuximab in combination with the FOLFIRI regimen as a first-line treatment for patients with mCRC who express EGFR and wild-type KRAS mutations.

Hans-Peter Gerber has been building a program to develop novel biotherapeutics for oncology, including antibody-drug conjugates, at the Pfizer Oncology Research Unit in Pearl River, New York.

Dr. Mark Kris, from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, on the Combination of Molecularly Targeted Therapies.

For nearly 40 years, the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center has enjoyed a reputation for excellence and innovation.

Antibodies directed against tumor cell antigens or overexpressed proteins are currently the fastest-growing class of targeted cancer therapeutics.

Case-based discussion on sequencing prostate cancer therapies for a 72-year-old man with a metastatic adenocarcinoma with small-cell components, a PSA score of 80, and a Gleason score of 10.

Recent evidence shows that some of the newer molecularly targeted therapies can cause diarrhea, which can lead to dose reductions and alterations.

Although molecularly targeted agents can cause cardiac damage, it appears to be reversible and related to cellular dysfunction, as distinct from agents such as anthracyclines that cause cellular death and irreversible cardiac dysfunction.

Dr. Robert Kirkman, the CEO of Oncothyreon, on the Combination of PX-866 and Docetaxel

Dr. Axel Hauschild, from University Hospital, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Discusses the BREAK-3 Trial That Investigated the BRAF Inhibitor Dabrafenib.