Personalized cancer medicine: next steps in the genomic era

Excerpt

In recent years massive amounts of genomic information characterizing the majority of human cancers have become available, which has profoundly changed our perception of the complexity of this disease. Huge efforts by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) projects have reshaped the landscape of mutations, transcription signatures, epigenetic profiles and copy number changes in cancer [1, 2]. Integrating this (epi-)genomic and transcriptomic information with clinical data has led to a first glimpse on inter- and intra-tumor heterogeneity in relation to diagnosis, prognosis and response to therapy, and to the identification of novel targetable molecular alterations [3]. We are now facing a decennium in which we will be able to integrate the currently used TNM system with novel molecular markers to better classify and stage tumors, to better stratify patients and to better use molecular markers to develop biology-based individualized treatment options. In this special issue of Cellular Oncology some key recent developments and points of concern in the field of personalized cancer care are reviewed, including which steps still need to be taken before the final implementation of personalized cancer medicine becomes a clinical reality. …