Personalized Medicine

San Antonio, TX—Molecular subtyping of early breast cancers using Mamma­Print and BluePrint assays allows the precise and accurate prediction of the molecular phenotype of the disease, which has the potential to guide the selection of personalized therapy if the tests are used prospectively.

Vienna, Austria—Several studies presented at the 2012 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress offered a look into what many believe will lead to the application of genome-based biomarker information into clinical use based on the concept of personalized medicine, although not all of the results were unconditionally encouraging.

Vienna, Austria—The identification of genetic mutations and tumor biomarkers to select the right drug for the right patient are not enough to satisfy the need for personalized cancer care, according to Kathy Redmond, MSc, RN, Editor of Cancer World magazine, a publication of the European School of Oncology and former president of the European Oncology Nursing Society, who addressed the topic of personalized medicine at the 2012 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress.

Phoenix, AZ—Using the paradigm of individualizing drug therapy based on a patient’s genetics, a group of oncologists and genomic experts have designed a genomic prescribing system that they hope will significantly reduce the staggeringly high rate of adverse drug reactions associated with prescription drugs in the United States.

Vienna, Austria—“Is personalized cancer care affordable?” asked Richard Sullivan, MD, PhD, Director of Kings Health Partners Institute of Cancer Policy and Global Health in the United Kingdom, in an invited presentation at the 2012 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress.

Vienna, Austria—“One of our themes at the 2012 ESMO Congress is personalized oncology,” European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Presi­dent Martine J. Piccart-Gebhart, MD, PhD, Professor of Oncology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and Director of the Medicine Department at Jules Bordet Institute, Brussels, Belgium, said at a press briefing at the meeting.

Amy J. Berman, BS, RN, was diagnosed with incurable stage IV breast cancer almost 2 years ago. In the following interview, she discusses with Value-Based Cancer Care (VBCC) her recent experience, and why she chose to focus on quality of life rather than on the length of her life.

What is the most important challenge faced by a person who is diagnosed with cancer today? Opinions will differ, but most patients want to be assured that they will work with a group of multispecialty physicians who will provide recommendations for care that provide the best possible outcomes, that all options for effective treatment will be available to them, that care will be provided in a safe and comfortable hospital or other facility, and that the healthcare staff will care about their problems and concerns with managing treatment, professional issues, and family issues.

San Antonio, TX—In a retrospective utilization and cost analysis, nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) therapy was associated with substantially lower total use of prophylactic colony-stimulating factor (CSF) than docetaxel (Taxotere) and paclitaxel (Taxol) in the treatment of breast cancer.

San Antonio, TX—Assessing all eligible patients with breast cancer for recurrence risk with the 21-gene Oncotype DX assay at diagnosis could save $330.8 million annually by avoiding ineffective chemotherapy, according to data presented at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.