Dr Mark G. Kris on Use of the Patient's Genome

Recent important changes in oncology have led to major advances that allow providers to recommend very specific therapies, said Mark G. Kris, MD, William and Joy Ruane chair in thoracic oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

The convergence of science and technology means that once the cancer is diagnosed, the tumor tissue can be tested for certain damaged genes, which can direct doctors’ treatments, he said.

“So for many kinds of cancer we now can find a certain genetic defect in the person’s cancer cell and if we detect that defect we then can recommend very specific therapy that is more likely to work and more likely to have fewer side effects,” Dr Kris explained. “So for those patients it’s been a great step forward.”