Precision Medicine in Oncology® | Specialty

The OncLive Precision Medicine in Oncology® condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and expert insights on precision-focused approaches in patients with cancer, with gene-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors and antibody-drug conjugates, checkpoint inhibitors, tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy, and other tailored treatments. This page features news articles, interviews in written and video format, and podcasts that focus on updates and ongoing research with personalized therapies across solid and hematologic tumors.

Making Oncology History: Imatinib Pioneer Created His Own Opportunities

January 17th 2013

Brian J. Druker, MD, one of the pioneering researchers who discovered imatinib, has maintained his focus on finding new and better treatments for CML and other leukemias.

Priority Review Granted to Afatinib for EGFR+ Advanced NSCLC

January 15th 2013

The FDA has accepted a NDA for afatinib to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC who have tested positive for an EGFR mutation that has been identified through a companion diagnostic test.

Dr. Corey Langer Discusses Erlotinib in Advanced NSCLC

January 15th 2013

Corey J. Langer, MD, from the University of Pennsylvania, Abramson Cancer Center, discusses the EGFR-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor erlotinib for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Novel Drugs Show Promise in NSCLC

January 14th 2013

An ever-deeper understanding of the biology that drives NSCLC is sparking new treatment paradigms that include selecting targeted drugs based on patients' biomarkers.

Dr. Zelenetz on the Impact of Rituximab in Lymphoma

January 14th 2013

Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, explains the impact that rituximab has made in the treatment of patients with non-Hodgkin and B-cell lymphomas.

Dr. Debu Tripathy on the CDK4/6 Inhibitor PD 0332991

January 11th 2013

Debu Tripathy, MD, from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses a phase II trial that examined the CDK inhibitor PD 0332991 for women with advanced estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.

CTCs Found to Be Predictive for Recurrence and Survival in Melanoma Patients

January 9th 2013

Circulating tumor cells can be a predictive blood biomarker for recurrence and survival in patients with stage III melanoma and may help identify who will benefit from aggressive adjuvant therapy.

Special Populations in Lung Cancer Explored

January 8th 2013

PS2 patients in focus at the 7th Annual New York Lung Cancer Symposium, hosted by Physicians' Education Resource, that took place in New York City.

Five Wnt-Related Questions for Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD

January 7th 2013

Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, has focused his research on a range of scientific and translational questions, including the regulation of gene expression in drug resistance and targeted therapies.

The Benefits of Genetic Testing for Cancer Survivors

January 7th 2013

Genetic testing for cancer survivors may play a critical role in helping avoid a second primary cancer or it may help prevent family members from developing cancer.

Wnt Signaling Inhibition: Will Decades of Effort Be Fruitful at Last?

January 7th 2013

Tumor-initiating cells are thought to be the source of metastasis. For these reasons, the Wnt pathway is viewed as a strong candidate for therapeutic intervention.

Dual Pathways Must Be Targeted in ER-Positive Breast Cancer

January 4th 2013

Treating estrogen receptorâ€“positive breast cancer without sparking resistance is a complex endeavor that should involve simultaneously targeting the hormone-signaling and PI3 kinase molecular pathways

Going Off-Label: It's Time to Ponder the Nature of Sufficient Evidence

January 4th 2013

In the absence of a phase III randomized trial, what constitutes sufficient evidence to justify use of a treatment, particularly a nontraditional treatment or one that challenges common practice?

Searching for New Pathways and Treatments for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

December 27th 2012

Scientists now know a lot more about the genetic landscape of head and neck cancer and hope that eventually this knowledge will lead the way to new therapies.

Cristi Radford on Utilizing Gene Panels in Ovarian Cancer

December 20th 2012

Cristi Radford, MS, CGC, from the Sarasota Memorial Hospital, discusses examining cancer gene panels using next generation sequencing for patients with ovarian cancer.

Dr. Cortes on the Phase II Ponatinib PACE Trial

December 12th 2012

Jorge E. Cortes, MD, from the MD Anderson Cancer Center, describes results from a 12 month follow up of the phase II PACE study that examined ponatinib in patients with CML and Ph+ ALL.

Dr. Kris on Dacomitinib in EGFR-Positive Lung Cancer

December 12th 2012

Mark G. Kris, MD, from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the administration of dacomitinib for patient with EGFR-positive lung cancer.

Gaining Ground: Personal Losses Help Drive Pioneer in Stem Cell Study

December 12th 2012

An interview with Jenny C. Chang, MB BChir, MD, who broke new ground in cancer research when she identified and patented a 493-gene signature for breast cancer.

Rationalizing Treatment and Coverage Decisions With Predictive Biomarkers

December 11th 2012

Predictive biomarkers are beginning to help physicians assign value to associated therapies in terms of likelihood of benefit and benefit-to-risk profiles for individual patients.

Justin Balko on the Diversity of Genetic Alterations in TNBC

December 8th 2012

Justin M. Balko, PharmD, PhD, from the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, discusses research into clinically targetable genetic alterations in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.