On Targeted Therapies for Cancer

It has only been recently that the understanding of the atlas, the periodic table of changes that are resident within cancer cells, the spectrum of mutations that occur in various cancers, be it breast,  prostate or colon. Without knowledge of that periodic table, without knowledge of the genes that are aberrant in those cancers, it’s very difficult to treat those cancers with therapies that are squarely against impacting that specific cancer. If we could have an understanding of those genetic mutations then we would be able to develop targeted therapies for those cancers, and have those cancers elicit more durable responses for patients with the disease. The approach that has been taken for decades, is one of a more general approach to cancer, that involves chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, which have made a huge impact on the cancer problem, but we’re now at the threshold of a time where we can begin to understand exactly what’s wrong in a person’s cancer and tailor the therapies.