GENOMIC TESTING

The US Supreme Court ruled that patents held on a test for genetic mutations associated with breast cancer is not eligible for patent protection.

Data from the French National Cancer Institute showed an increase in testing for BRCA1/2 for breast and ovarian cancer, though not for the MMR mutation for Lynch syndrome.

A new study suggests that even tumor cells with a common genetic background can display functional heterogeneity.

Debu Tripathy, MD, Co-Leader, Women's Cancer Program, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, describes intratumoral heterogeneity in patients with breast cancer.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most common acute form of leukemia in adults, is potentially driven by at least one genetic mutation in nearly all cases.

Penny Daugherty, RN, MS, OCN, Southeastern Gynecologic Oncology, comments on the presence of a BRCA mutation in her patients.

William K. Oh, MD, Chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai Medical Center, discusses sequencing treatment in patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer.

Fabrice Andre, MD, PhD, Research Director, Head of INSERM Unit U981, Institut National des Sciences et de la Recherche Médicale, Villejuif, France, discusses the need for new testing methods.