Biomarker Studies Help To Improve Personalized Cancer Medicine
Scientists have come to learn a lot about the biology of cancer, but survival rates of patients with cancer have not improved much. According to Science Translational Medicine, scientists are commenting that strategies need to be created to match new and already existing drugs with the specific tumor characteristics of the patient in order to further the survival rate of cancer.
Research shows that most types of cancer are not just one disease, but instead many complex disorders with specific causes. An example of this would be breast cancer which is comprised of fifteen different diseases. Due to there being many types that are classified as one cancer, subtle differences in the tumor’s genes, or biomarkers, result in medications working for only some patients and not working in the others. To progress more specific drugs more assays of tumor genetic mutation and changes in gene expression are needed. As reported in the New York Times, the growth factor receptor HER2 has increased expression in twenty percent of breast cancers. Testing for this HER2 receptor is done by a biopsy which is done with any cancer, but what is not done is taking another tumor sample right before initiating treatment to document the changes since the first biopsy.
The problem with having to go through multiple biopsies on the same person is not necessarily the money but trying to find enough patients to do the clinical trials needed to make more personalized medicine for each patient possible.
I think this article is interesting because it seems to tie together a lot of the things discussed in class lately. For the clinical trials needed I think better advertising and education would get more people to consent to the study. This article also goes to show why pharmacology is so difficult because no single drug is the all fix for every patient diagnosed with the same cancer.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=biomarkers-personalized-cancer-medicine
Research shows that most types of cancer are not just one disease, but instead many complex disorders with specific causes. An example of this would be breast cancer which is comprised of fifteen different diseases. Due to there being many types that are classified as one cancer, subtle differences in the tumor’s genes, or biomarkers, result in medications working for only some patients and not working in the others. To progress more specific drugs more assays of tumor genetic mutation and changes in gene expression are needed. As reported in the New York Times, the growth factor receptor HER2 has increased expression in twenty percent of breast cancers. Testing for this HER2 receptor is done by a biopsy which is done with any cancer, but what is not done is taking another tumor sample right before initiating treatment to document the changes since the first biopsy.
The problem with having to go through multiple biopsies on the same person is not necessarily the money but trying to find enough patients to do the clinical trials needed to make more personalized medicine for each patient possible.
I think this article is interesting because it seems to tie together a lot of the things discussed in class lately. For the clinical trials needed I think better advertising and education would get more people to consent to the study. This article also goes to show why pharmacology is so difficult because no single drug is the all fix for every patient diagnosed with the same cancer.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=biomarkers-personalized-cancer-medicine
posted by Kelsey Smegner at 2:53 PM
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