Precision Cancer Medicine

Part of a study examining budding yeast cells’ ability to respond to DNA damage, this image shows cell walls tagged red, DNA in blue, and a protein called Rnr4 in green. Such images, taken across thousands of samples, help researchers understand which cellular processes may go awry in cancer, and identify possible targets for therapeutics. Credit: Aprotim Mazumder, Laia Quiros Pesudo, Siobhan McRee, Mark Bathe, Leona D. Samson.

Over the past decade, major advancements in the field of precision medicine have led to exciting new treatments for some cancer patients. Much attention has been focused on genomic profiling of tumors to guide selection of individual patient therapies. Beyond genomics, however, a variety of other precision approaches—including proteomics, metabolomics, and computational modeling—can identify and exploit cancer-specific biological mechanisms, resulting in more effective use of existing cancer medicines.

Our Precision Cancer Medicine symposium highlights recent advances in precision cancer medicine and explores the challenges and opportunities associated with integrating precision medicine into current and future clinical trials.