{"278441":{"#nid":"278441","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Personalized Medicine Best Way to Treat Cancer, Study Argues","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIf a driver is traveling to New York City, I-95 might be their route of choice. But they could also take I-78, I-87 or any number of alternate routes. Most cancers begin similarly, with many possible routes to the same disease. A new study found evidence that assessing the route to cancer on a case-by-case basis might make more sense than basing a patient\u2019s cancer treatment on commonly disrupted genes and pathways.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study found little or no overlap in the most prominent genetic malfunction associated with each individual patient\u2019s disease compared to malfunctions shared among the group of cancer patients as a whole. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis paper argues for the importance of personalized medicine, where we treat each person by looking for the etiology of the disease in patients individually,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mcdonaldlab.biology.gatech.edu\/john_mcdonald.htm\u0022\u003EJohn McDonald\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the School of Biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. \u201cThe findings have ramifications on how we might best optimize cancer treatments as we enter the era of targeted gene therapy.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was published February 11 online in the journal \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/journals.lww.com\/pancreasjournal\/Fulltext\/2014\/03000\/Evidence_for_the_Importance_of_Personalized.5.aspx\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPANCREAS\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and was funded by the Georgia Tech Foundation and the St. Joseph\u2019s Mercy Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the study, researchers collected cancer and normal tissue samples from four patients with pancreatic cancer and also analyzed data from eight other pancreatic cancer patients that had been previously reported in the scientific literature by a separate research group. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMcDonald\u2019s team compiled a list of the most aberrantly expressed genes in the cancer tissues isolated from these patients relative to adjacent normal pancreatic tissue. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study found that collectively 287 genes displayed significant differences in expression in the cancers vs normal tissues. Twenty-two cellular pathways were enriched in cancer samples, with more than half related to the body\u2019s immune response. The researchers ran statistical analyses to determine if the genes most significantly abnormally expressed on an individual patient basis were the same as those identified as most abnormally expressed across the entire group of patients. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers found that the molecular profile of each individual cancer patient was unique in terms of the most significantly disrupted genes and pathways. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you\u2019re dealing with a disease like cancer that can be arrived at by multiple pathways, it makes sense that you\u2019re not going to find that each patient has taken the same path,\u201d McDonald said. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlthough the researchers found that some genes that were commonly disrupted in all or most of the patients examined, these genes were not among the most significantly disrupted in any individual patient. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy and large, there appears to be a lot of individuality in terms of the molecular basis of pancreatic cancer,\u201d said McDonald, who also serves as the director of the Integrated Cancer Research Center and as the chief scientific officer of the Ovarian Cancer Institute.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough the study is small, it raises questions about the validity of pinpointing the most important gene or pathway underlying a disease by pooling data from multiple patients, McDonald said. He favors individual profiling as the preferred method for initiating treatment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe cost of a molecular profiling analysis to transcribe the DNA sequences of exons \u2014 the parts of the genome that carry instructions for proteins \u2014 is about $2,000 (exons account for about two percent of a cell\u2019s total DNA). That\u2019s about half the cost of this analysis five years ago, McDonald said, and a $1,000 molecular profiling analysis might not be far off. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs costs continue to come down, personalized molecular profiling will be carried out on more cancer patients,\u201d McDonald said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYet cost isn\u2019t the only limiting factor, McDonald said. Scientists and doctors have to shift their paradigm on how they use molecular profiling to treat cancer. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAre you going to believe what you see for one patient or are you going to say, \u2018I can\u2019t interpret that data until I group it together with 100 other patients and find what\u2019s in common among them,\u2019\u201d McDonald said. \u201cFor any given individual patient there may be mutant genes or aberrant expression patterns that are vitally important for that person\u2019s cancer that aren\u2019t present in other patients\u2019 cancers.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFuture work in McDonald\u2019s lab will see if this pattern of individuality is repeated in larger studies and in patients with different cancers. The group is currently working on a genomic profiling analysis of patients with ovarian and lung cancers. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf there are multiple paths, then maybe individual patients are getting cancer from alternative routes,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cIf that\u2019s the case, we should do personalized profiling on each patient before we make judgments on the treatment for that patient.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELoukia Lili, of Georgia Tech\u2019s Integrated Cancer Research Center, School of Biology, and Parker H. Petit Institute of Bioengineering and Biosciences, was the study\u2019s first author. Co-authors included Lilya Matyunina and DeEtte Walker of Georgia Tech, and George Daneker, MD, of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America SE Regional Facility in Newnan, Ga.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research is supported by the Georgia Tech Foundation and the St. Joseph\u2019s Mercy Foundation. Any conclusions or opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Loukia N. Lili, et al., \u201cEvidence for the Importance of Personalized Molecular Profiling in Pancreatic Cancer,\u201d (\u003Cem\u003EPANCREAS\u003C\/em\u003E, February 2014). (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1097\/MPA.0000000000000020\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1097\/MPA.0000000000000020\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/GTResearchNews\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E@GTResearchNews\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Brett Israel (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/btiatl\u0022\u003E@btiatl\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Brett Israel\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIf a driver is traveling to New York City, I-95 might be their route of choice. But they could also take I-78, I-87 or any number of alternate routes. Most cancers begin similarly, with many possible routes to the same disease. A new study found evidence that assessing the route to cancer on a case-by-case basis might make more sense than basing a patient\u2019s cancer treatment on commonly disrupted genes and pathways.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study found evidence that assessing the route to cancer on a case-by-case basis might make more sense than basing a patient\u2019s cancer treatment on commonly disrupted genes and pathways."}],"uid":"27902","created_gmt":"2014-02-24 13:37:19","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:55","author":"Brett Israel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-02-24T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2014-02-24T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"278421":{"id":"278421","type":"image","title":"John McDonald","body":null,"created":"1449244168","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:49:28","changed":"1475894971","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:31","alt":"John McDonald","file":{"fid":"198842","name":"john_mcdonald.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/john_mcdonald_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/john_mcdonald_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":50472,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/john_mcdonald_0.jpg?itok=IOwQFxa_"}},"278431":{"id":"278431","type":"image","title":"Venn diagrams","body":null,"created":"1449244168","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:49:28","changed":"1475894971","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:31","alt":"Venn diagrams","file":{"fid":"198843","name":"pancreas_venn_diagrams.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/pancreas_venn_diagrams_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/pancreas_venn_diagrams_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":30392,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/pancreas_venn_diagrams_0.jpg?itok=JXpk2cG6"}}},"media_ids":["278421","278431"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"140","name":"Cancer Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2371","name":"John McDonald"},{"id":"87351","name":"pancreatic cancer"},{"id":"10679","name":"personalized medicine"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBrett Israel\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-385-1933\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/btiatl\u0022\u003E@btiatl\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}