Cancer patients can now be 'matched' to best treatment with DNA and lab-dish experiments

My team and I do this by testing different medications on a patient's own cancer cells before administering treatment, tailoring therapies that are most likely to selectively kill tumors while minimizing toxic effects.

In our newly published results of the first clinical trial combining drug sensitivity testing with DNA testing to identify effective treatments in children with cancer, an approach called functional precision medicine, we found this approach can help match patients with more FDA-approved treatment options and significantly improve outcomes.

Matching medications to patients based on a single mutation overlooks other genetic and nongenetic mechanisms that influence how cells respond to drugs.

My colleague Arlet Maria Acanda de la Rocha was instrumental in helping return drug sensitivity data to patients as fast as possible.

Most importantly, our study showed that 83% of cancer patients who received treatments guided by our approach had clinical benefit, including improved response and survival.

My team and I have started twoclinical trials to expand the results of our previous studies on providing treatment recommendations through functional precision medicine.