The Center for Personalized Diagnostics From ASCO 2013

Christine Wilson, cancer survivor, shares her experiences from the The American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO) national conference in 2013. Every year,  cancer specialists and researchers from around the world gather to present their latest findings on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of science. At a recent continuing medical education meeting, experts from the Abramson Cancer Center summarized some of the most important research from ASCO 2013 for a packed room of over 300 oncologists.

This is a summary of the information presented at ASCO by Chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Roth, MD, PhD, about personalized diagnostics and medicine at the Center for Personalized Diagnostics. 

One result of the rapid advances in understanding cancer biology has been the discovery of numerous genetic mutations that either cause or are associated with specific cancer types. These mutations are the basis for targeted therapies, cancer treatments that block the abnormal activity of these mutated genes.

The new Penn Medicine Center for Personalized Diagnostics (CPD) provides state of the art genetic screening that is fast, cost effective and focused on improving the ability of doctors and patients to make decisions about when and how to use targeted therapies. CPD testing is now available for acute myelocytic leukemia, melanoma, brain tumors and lung cancer, with plans to expand to colon cancer and a wide spectrum of cancer types in the near future.

The CPD tests for a wide spectrum of gene abnormalities allowing for the identification of both the more common mutations as well as those with a low prevalence, “the one-percenters” as Dr. Roth calls them. Test results are reported as either actionable--meaning that targeted therapies exist, or variances of unknown significance (VUS). While finding these VUS mutations may not help today’s patients, they are important for future diagnostic and treatment. CPD tests only for genes that influence the diagnosis, treatment or prognosis of cancers--not those which predict cancer risk.

For more information, visit the Penn Medicine Center for Personalized Diagnostics.

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Center for Personalized Diagnostic Medicine Brings Next Generation of Sequencing to Melanoma Screening

Christine Wilson, cancer survivor, shares her experiences from the Abramson Cancer Center’s 2013- Focus Melanoma and CAN Prevent Skin Cancer Conferences. In this blog, she discusses personalized medicine and melanoma.

Dr. David Elder, MD, a pathologist noted that the newly formed Penn Center for Personalized Diagnostic Medicine will utilize a new gene panel that screens for 41 different gene mutations that can be found in malignant melanomas. This next generation screening can be done with a smaller amount of DNA than the more limited gene screening techniques required in the past. This is significant because it will allow doctors to use new therapies at earlier stages of the disease, focusing on patients who are at high risk for recurrence rather than waiting for the melanoma to metastasize and treating it a more advanced stage.

The Center for Personalized Diagnostics (CPD), a joint initiative by Penn Medicine's Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center, integrates Molecular Genetics, Pathology Informatics, and Genomic Pathology for individualized patient diagnoses and to elucidate cancer treatment options for physicians.

The focus of the CPD's initial efforts has been toward developing two cancer gene sequencing panels: a custom hematologic malignancy panel and a solid tumor panel. The primary targets will include leukemia, and solid tumors, beginning with brain, melanoma, and lung tumors. The goal is to identify genomic alterations that allow clinicians to design and implement optimal treatment plans.

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Penn Medicine's New Center for Personalized Diagnostics

When cancer specialists look at a patient’s tumor or cancer, they are just looking at a small piece of that patient’s diagnosis. For people with cancer, genetics and DNA testing can provide a clearer picture of why cancer develops to guide new, individualized treatments to stop the cancer from spreading.

Penn Medicine’s new Center for Personalized Diagnostics, a joint initiative of the department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center, is diving deeper into each cancer patient’s tumor with next generation DNA sequencing.

These specialized tests can refine patient diagnoses with greater precision than standard imaging tests and blood work, all with an aim to broaden treatment options and improve their efficacy.

The Center for Personalized Diagnostics unites top experts in genomic analysis, bioinformatics, and cancer genetics – who use the most sensitive data analysis tools available to identify the rarest of mutations – with oncologists who treat patients and design clinical trials to test new therapies. Together, their efforts will provide cancer patients with cutting-edge diagnostic and therapeutic options.

Read the full press release announcing the new Center for Personalized Diagnostics at Penn Medicine to learn more about how these test results stand to change and improve cancer care.

About the Center for Personalized Diagnostics

The Center for Personalized Diagnostics (CPD), a joint initiative by Penn Medicine's Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center, integrates Molecular Genetics, Pathology Informatics, and Genomic Pathology for individualized patient diagnoses and to elucidate cancer treatment options for physicians.

The focus of the CPD's initial efforts has been toward developing two cancer gene sequencing panels: a custom hematologic malignancy panel and a solid tumor panel. The primary targets will include leukemias, and solid tumors, beginning with brain, melanoma, and lung tumors. The goal is to identify genomic alterations that allow clinicians to design and implement optimal treatment plans.

Learn more about the Center for Personalized Diagnostics here.

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