Profile
Accelerating the development of personalized cancer care
Key leaders of the new genetic-screening research program include Dana-Farber’s Barrett Rollins, MD, PhD, and Janina Longtine, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, (top photo) as well as Monica Bertagnolli, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Philip Kantoff, MD, from Dana-Farber (bottom photo).
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have launched Profile, one of the most comprehensive cancer research studies to help accelerate the development of personalized treatments for every person with cancer.
The study will provide researchers with one of the world’s largest databases of cancer genetic abnormalities. Over time, this growing body of information will help scientists discover more about the genetic causes of cancers and increase the development of new, targeted therapies to treat them.
Wealth of data is key to new tumor screening study
Tumor tissue is being tested for 471 mutations across 41 genes using OncoMap technology developed at Dana-Farber. Testing is done by the Brigham and Women's Hospital Center for Advanced Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory.
Profile draws on the shared expertise of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
For nearly two years, teams of physicians, laboratory scientists, translational researchers (who bridge the realms of laboratory and clinical science), information technology experts, administrators, and clinicians from both hospitals have worked to assemble and implement the program.
Newly developed information systems will make the data available to scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital for a wide range of research projects, including the development of new clinical trials for cancer.
Read more about this study in the Fall/Winter issue of Paths of Progress
Frontier of Discovery
Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women’s Hospital partner for a new genetic cancer research program that strives to collect a wealth of information aimed at fueling clinical discoveries.
Tailor Made
How personalized cancer medicine is helping doctors design treatments to fit individual patients.
Realizing the promise of personalized medicine
Targeted therapies are already part of the current standard of care for some types of cancer, including colorectal and other gastrointestinal cancers, lung cancer, and breast cancer.
In these cases, researchers have identified genetic mutations that are active in cancer cell growth and have developed therapies that specifically target these pathways.
It is our hope that by understanding the genetics behind a particular cancer, clinicians can determine which types of treatment are most likely to be successful for patients with these mutations.
Novel drug combination offers therapeutic promise for hard-to-treat cancers
Targeted therapy takes aim at breast and ovarian cancers
Finding a 'match' for lung cancer