Genomic profiling is increasingly used for solid tumors in adults and for pediatric brain tumors and blood cancers, allowing treatments to be matched to patients’ mutations. But for children with solid tumors, genomic fingerprinting has been elusive, because these cancers are so varied and individually so rare. Therapies therefore remain non-specific: chemotherapy, surgery, and/or radiation.
A new study, using a newly developed set of clinical-grade tests, now makes the case for genomic profiling of pediatric solid tumors. Applying the tests in a real-time clinical setting, researchers at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center were able to match children, teens, and young adults with a variety of solid tumors to a targeted, precision drug about 70 percent of the time, sometimes improving their outcomes.
Source: Genomic ‘fingerprinting’ yields better treatments for pediatric solid cancers
