(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Mary Bronner, division chief of anatomic pathology at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, describes the inner workings of the Sequenom instrument, which in part can detect gene mutations for cancers.

Cancer care 2 hospitals aim to screen all patients for genetic mutations for which specialized, or targeted, therapies exist.

On Mary Bronners desk at the Huntsman Cancer Institute stands a microscope for identifying and categorizing cancer cells.

About 99 percent of the diagnostic work by her team of pathologists is done with this centuries-old tool.

Genetic sequencing in research

Researchers are using genetic sequencing to speed delivery of new drugs, and to prevent disease from taking hold in patients with a family history of cancer, blurring the line between research and medicine.

Drug trials

At Huntsman Cancer Institute, researchers just wrapped up a clinical trial on a new lung cancer drug. Sequencing was used to screen 200 patients to find the 5 to 10 percent who carried the genetic change that made them a candidate for the trial.

Such studies are expanding the arsenal of available drugs, said Sunil Sharma, chief medical oncologist and director of clinical research at Huntsman. If this drug was tested in 100 lung cancer patients it would have been deemed a failure.

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Cancer care in Utah goes genetic

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