The latest in precision medicine and lung cancer

April 30, 2015

Even before President Barack Obama declared it a national initiative, precision medicine has helped bring more effective treatment to patients with many types of cancer. One disease that has benefited from these treatments is lung cancer, where targeted therapies have significantly improved outcomes for patients.

“When we find we have drugs targeted for a specific genetic mutation driving the cancer, the chance of having someone live longer and feel better is much higher,” says David Jackman, MD, a medical oncologist with Dana-Farber’s Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology and the institute’s Medical Director for Clinical Pathways. “We’re doubling, tripling, and in some cases quadrupling response rates compared to what we see with traditional chemotherapy.”

Jackman recently joined Dana-Farber Chief Scientific Officer Barrett Rollins, MD, PhD, for a live video webchat on the latest in precision medicine for lung cancer. Jackman and Rollins discussed how precision medicine is being used in cancer treatment today as well as some of the latest research in the field.

“One of the more exciting areas in precision medicine is looking at why patients sometimes develop resistance to these treatments,” says Rollins. “The next cutting-edge area of cancer research is going to focus on how we can overcome this problem.”