Sept. 25, 2007 — The treatment that more cancer patients receive may one day depend on their genes.
With an increasing number of biological clues available, doctors hope they will be able to customize more patients' treatments based on their genetic profiles.
In research presented at a meeting of the European Cancer Organization in Barcelona, experts said this week that these clues will help doctors determine not only which patients will probably develop cancer, but even those who will relapse, or be suitable for specific treatments.
"We are going to witness a revolution in cancer treatment," said Dr. Martine Piccart, head of medicine at the Institut Jules Bordet in Belgium. "In a few years, we will be able to fully demonstrate how powerful these new technologies are."
The real test, however, will be if doctors can then figure out what to do next.
The skinny on ancient DNA.
Get more Discovery News video here.
"It's never encouraging to say to a patient that she's going to do poorly because of her genes," Piccart said. "We need to be able to offer patients an effective treatment."
Piccart and colleagues have been working to confirm the genetic sequences for women susceptible to breast cancer.
