Why All Cancer Patients Should Have Access To Genomic Testing
What’s at issue is the right of all cancer patients—regardless of wealth—to obtain high-quality information about their conditions.
writer, health care advocate, physician
What’s at issue is the right of all cancer patients—regardless of wealth—to obtain high-quality information about their conditions.
Few doctors, even oncologists who subspecialize, can keep up with developments in the field.
Perhaps the literature fails to capture the clinical value of oncology drugs. This could happen for several reasons.
“Medicine is rapidly falling behind business in the accrual of high-quality evidence,” Califf said.
My worry for Grail is that a lot of people will get worked up upon finding genetic changes of unknown significance. Meanwhile, it might fail to detect cancer in people who really have it.
We need and can afford both: to raise the bar so that everyone has access to modern healthcare, and to advance treatments through medical science.
The Cures Act will keep the U.S. at the forefront of medical progress, a draw for scientists and doctors around the world, a source of pride.
The FDA’s decision reflects a thoughtful, not knee-jerk approach to its mission, which is to protect the public from fraudulent and unsafe substances. What’s at issue is how well eteplirsen works. And that it’s too expensive.
It was a seemingly innocuous change in the protocol that may have caused this experimental tragedy. Which is all the more reason to be careful, and mind the details.
“If we had a drug that caused this level of survival benefit, wouldn’t we want to go out and use it?” said Dr. Patricia Ganz.
The potential to reduce overtreatment, in women with a low chance of recurrence for which chemo is unlikely to be of benefit, is huge.
Evaluation of circulating tumor cells enables monitoring of some cancers from blood samples. This form of liquid biopsy offers…
Tomorrow’s doctors need to grasp more concepts in science and technology than did any previous generation of physicians.
Venetoclax is a powerful new kind of oral medication. It enables leukemia cells to die by interfering with Bcl-2, a survival signal.
If there’s one thing that’s become clear about precision medicine – and the delivery of optimal care based in science – it will require super technology. This need is especially urgent in oncology.
A common misconception is that precision medicine is about one drug for one disease. But for most cancer types, it will involve combining medications in effective cocktails.
Over time, the costs should drop, like for smartphone tech, what my Dad – a chemistry major and retired physician – called “magic.”
On Twitter this week, I happened upon a discussion having to do with the possibility of curing cancer.
The Shower Shirt is made of waterproof parachute material on the outside, with microfiber on the inside of the neck, a water-resistant zipper, flap, and Velcro all the way down in front.
Automated whole breast ultrasound screening has the potential to improve breast cancer screening of women with dense breasts.
We’re in the 1950s of precision medicine, so to speak. Modern oncology care helps some, many but not all.
The IBIS-1 trial shows a dramatic, reductive effect of tamoxifen in preventing breast tumors.
September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. You might not notice.
A key question about tomosynthesis is whether it’s worth investing in so many new machines and educating radiologists to interpret 3-D breast images.
With an ordinary blood sample, a device can monitor cancerous cells for spread or resistance to treatment.