Genomic signatures identify targeted therapies for lung cancer

Any number of things can go wrong in the cells of the body to cause cancer -- and clinicians can't tell by just looking at a tumor what exactly triggered the once normal cells to turn cancerous. New tests developed by researchers at Duke University can determine the precise patterns among thousands of genes to identify the cascade of events, or pathways, that led to the cancer. These "genomic signatures" will give clinicians the tools they need to pursue alternatives to the traditional blunt force of chemotherapy. Following this test, patients might be treated with drugs that specifically target the faulty pathway, the researchers said. "Traditional chemotherapy is not always effective," said Anil Potti, M.D., the study's lead investigator and an assistant professor of medicine in the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy. "Even when we are able to match the right chemotherapy with the right patient, 70 percent of patients with lung cancer may not respond to therapy. We need to take a different approach to those patients, and that is where these targeted therapeutics come in." ... Whole on "PhysOrg":[ http://www.physorg.com/news100096635.html]

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