For
some pediatric cancer patients with relapsed or refractory cancer, extensive
genetic analysis can open up new options.
The findings are based on 91 pediatric cancer
patients at Mott Children's Hospital who were out of standard treatment
options. Rajen Mody, M.B.B.S., a pediatric oncologist at the University of
Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, and colleagues analyzed
each child's genetic blueprint, including DNA and RNA from their tumors and
from healthy tissue.
Mody's team found that 46 percent of the children
had a genetic finding that could potentially be acted upon. Physicians were
able to take that action for only some patients, though -- including 14
children who started a new therapy, the team reported.
Those children were placed on recently developed,
targeted cancer drugs. Overall, nine of the children responded, with either a
partial or complete remission.
On the surface, those numbers might not seem very
encouraging, Mody said. "But these are the hardest of the hard cases.
They've gone through all the tests and the treatments we have," he told HealthDay.
"These are the children for whom we haven't
seen any real improvement in outcomes in the past 40 years. This offers some
hope that we'll be able to treat these children in a more personalized
way."
One author disclosed serving on the scientific advisory
board of Paradigm Diagnostics.
Reference
Mody RJ, Wu
Y, Lonigro RJ, et al. Integrative Clinical Sequencing in the Management of
Refractory or Relapsed Cancer in Youth. JAMA. 2015. JAMA.
2015;314(9):913-925. doi:10.1001/jama.2015.10080.
Cancer Therapy Advisor
Cure Search Genomic Sequencing
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