We are not all the same and neither are the cancers we develop. Cancers have their own genetic signature and should be treated accordingly. Genomic Health is leading the way in applying clinical genomics to cancer treatments. Here is what they say:
“The key to effectively using clinical genomics to improve cancer treatment and outcomes lies in determining which sets of genes and gene interactions affect different subsets of cancers. Genomic Health is conducting studies in an effort to understand which patterns of gene expression, within a tumor are linked to a response to cancer therapy or to the likelihood that the cancer will return or metastasize.The results of these genomic studies and research can then be used to develop clinically validated tests that provide the genomic profile of an individual’s tumor, helping understand whether patients are likely to benefit from and respond to cancer therapies such as tamoxifen (for breast cancer) or chemotherapy, or whether those patients are likely to experience a recurrence of their cancer. ”
Consider this dramatic video:
It would be great if given new insights from this kind of testing, many cancer patients would not need aggressive chemotherapy.
Look at their corporate video:
Currently, Genomic Health offers three types of cancer screening products that fall under their Oncotype DX method of analyzing cancer genomics:
1. Breast Cancer Assay for patients with pre-invasive or DCIS, node-negative and node-positive, estrogen-receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer; for single gene reporting quantitative of ER (estrogen receptor), PR (progesterone receptor negative) and HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) genes, and for patients treated with Tamoxifen or an Aromatase Inhibitor.
2. Colon Cancer Assay for assessment of risk of recurrence in stage II and stage III colon cancer
3. Prostate Cancer Assay for Early-Stage Prostate Cancer. This measures the level of expression of multiple genes across multiple pathways that predict aggressive prostate cancer.
The breast cancer test has been available the longest and has the most developed clinical history. This is worth a discussion with your oncologist.
Become a Healthy Start member and read more about this in the forum, Cancer Protection.
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