Dr. Goy on Updates in Precision Medicine in Oncology

Andre Goy, MD, MS, physician-in-chief of the Hackensack Meridian Health Oncology Care Transformation Service, chairman and executive director of John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, Lydia Pfund chair for Lymphoma, chief of the Division of Lymphoma, professor of medicine at Georgetown University, and professor and chair of oncology at Seton Hall–Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, discusses updates in precision medicine. 

The goal of precision medicine is to give the right intervention at the right time for the right patients, Goy says. Despite being intrinsic to a physician's work, there has also been an acceleration of precision medicine efforts given the improved understanding of cancer biology and the rapid discovery of developments in omics and novel technologies. This has made the oncology landscape very complex, especially as it relates to the sustainability and cost of cancer drugs, according to Goy. 

While some oncology professionals believe that precision medicine has not delivered, Goy argues that great strides have been made, citing developments with TKI resistances in chronic myeloid leukemia, as an example. Additionally, many other drugs are approved with a companion diagnostic, and there is a deeper understanding that some subsets of patients respond better than others to certain agents.

Given the complexity of the landscape and the number of options available, it's often times difficult for physicians to find the best treatment for patients, Goy says. This was the rationale to form the 2nd Annual Precision Medicine Symposium: An Illustrated Tumor Board. While mass information is provided at meetings by ASH or ASCO, the Precision Medicine Symposium aims to filter that information down.

Most if not all cancers have something to do with precision medicine, Goy asserts precision medicine will become a reality and transform into something that will help determine the best option for every patient, concludes Goy.