Personalized Cancer Test Pinpoints Best Drug For Patients

by Vishnuprasad on February 27, 2015 at 8:49 PM

Cancer, whether in the pancreas or in the liver, can take on different characteristics and spread in different ways. That's why, there's no one-size-fits-all drug to help patients fight back.

But a new test can personalize treatment and help oncologists choose which chemotherapy route to take. The test, called Dynamic BH3 Profiling, quickly predicts whether or not a drug will work for a patient by first trying that drug on a tumor sample in the lab.

Women and Cancer

Cancer is one of the frequently talked about and most feared disease that falls under the genre of lifestyle diseases that have evolved, rather rapidly, in the past two decades.

A paper describing the method, which researchers say could become more widespread within a couple of years, was published in the journal Cell this week.

Study author Dr. Anthony Letai, a cancer researcher with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute said, "When we're trying to choose antibiotics for people. We simply isolate the bacteria that's causing the problem and expose it to all the drugs that are available," he says. "Then we choose the drugs that best put a lid on the multiplying bacteria. That has operated for many, many decades. so we thought, why not do that for cancer cells?" says Letai.

Source: Medindia

Pre-Cancerous Lesions

Encyclopedia section of medindia gives general information about Pre Cancerous Lesions

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