3 ms·
It's already an importany part of diagnostics and treatment! A lot of therapies are approved not just for specific cancers but for specific cancers with specifi
by vikramkr 2y ago
It's already an importany part of diagnostics and treatment! A lot of therapies are approved not just for specific cancers but for specific cancers with specific mutations. As with everything cancer it turned out to be more complicated than expected (not surprising given that it's essentially an outcome from chaotic uncontrolled genetic mutation and evolution) but sequencing progressing at like an order of magnitude faster than Moore's law and better understanding of all the -omics is making a dent
- snowwrestler 2y agoYes, when a family member was fighting metastatic pancreatic cancer, their doctor had a tumor biopsied and sequenced to see if they could try one of the new immunotherapies. Sadly no, and I learned that only a small percentage of hard cancers are yet treatable that way (which still helps a significant total number of people though).
- ethbr1 2y agoWell, there are two broadly different ways in which sequencing can help. 1. "Targeted therapies" that directly target unique surface features that specific mutations create. E.g. BRAF 2. Sorting most effective treatment by cancer type, where cancers driven by different mutations in different types of cells respond to specific treatments better or worse. Especially important for metastatic where you may have a pancreatic cancer mutation tumor in your lungs, etc.