SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

For cancer patients, selecting a treatment plan can be a complex and difficult process. Often, understanding future medical breakthroughs that can provide hope remains a distant and incomprehensible proposition. This may be the case as the field of oncology races towards the era of precision medicine.

Now, a recently-released video interview featuring Mark Rubin, MD, director of the new Institute for Precision Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, provides simple understanding of precision oncology and what the future holds for cancer patients.

In the simplest of terms, the ability to map the genes of cancer patients tumors and determine their specific genotype (variety) is rapidly moving oncology into the practice of precision medicine where the right oncology treatment is delivered to the right patient for optimal outcome. Less effective treatments are bypassed and those that can best target specific tumor types and destroy them can be deployed sooner.

In the interview, Dr. Rubin says: The concept that prostate cancer is not one cancer, but rather many cancers, is important for patients and clinicians to think about. This is going to lead us in the direction of breast or lung cancer where there are very well-defined subtypes and known drugs that provide specific responses.

The 12-minute interview with Dr. Rubin was produced by the Prostate Cancer Foundation and is featured on the home page of http://www.pcf.org. The Foundation has funded game-changing research for new medicines to treat prostate cancer and the identification of more than 27 genetic varieties of prostate cancer. Together, these advances are helping to make precision oncology a reality for patients.

About the Prostate Cancer Foundation

The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the worlds largest philanthropic source of support for accelerating the most promising research for better treatments and cures for prostate cancer. Founded in 1993, PCF has raised more than $530 million and provided funding to more than 1,600 research programs at nearly 200 cancer centers and universities in 16 countries. PCF advocates for greater awareness of prostate cancer and more efficient investment of governmental research funds for transformational cancer research. Its efforts have helped produce a 20-fold increase in government funding for prostate cancer. More information about the PCF can be found at http://www.pcf.org.

Originally posted here:
Genetic Screening of Tumors Paves Way for Precision Oncology

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