Dr. Drilon on Comprehensive Sequencing in Lung Cancer

Alexander Drilon, MD, research director, Early Drug Development, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses performing comprehensive sequencing in lung cancer.

There are several actionable genotypes and comprehensive sequencing that identifies all actionable mutations with corresponding targeted therapies must be performed upon diagnosis, explains Drilon. Sequencing has moved past single-gene testing; now, there is one comprehensive test to detect several actionable events, says Drilon.

Next-generation sequencing, which is DNA-based, is readily available in the clinic. However, an RNA-based assay may be necessary to maximize the likelihood of finding a driver, concludes Drilon.