“Molecular tests can provide useful and valuable information in about a third of cancer cases.” Paolo Marchetti, president of the Foundation for Personalized Medicine (Fmp), explained this during the media tutorial created with Servier on the most advanced frontier of precision oncology, which was held this morning in Rome. “Ongoing studies indicate that in 1 out of 3 cases genomic profiling can allow the identification of relevant genetic mutations for which there are targeted prescription drugs – specifies Marchetti – We are experiencing an extraordinary period for innovation thanks to an increasingly broad recognition of the factors predictive of response to molecularly targeted therapies”.
“It is a real change of therapeutic paradigm, in which the genomic signature surpasses the value of histological characterization alone. The key point of the new process is represented by genomic profiling, that is, the identification of molecular alterations – he highlights – that play a fundamental role in the development of the disease: from here derives the choice of the drug and the therapeutic indication, regardless of the location of the tumor, the age and sex of the patient”.
However, genomic profiling still presents a series of limitations which, very often, in an excess of enthusiasm can appear unclear. “Today there is a growing availability of extended genomic profiling tests, with panels that can examine even 500 genes with a single test – explains Marchetti – But the mutations for which there are already registered drugs are detectable in smaller panels, of around 50 genes or little more,” he specifies. Furthermore, according to the president of the Fmp, the aspect of skills should not be underestimated either. “The analysis and interpretation of the results of genomic profiling, as well as the identification of potential targeted treatments, require multidisciplinary skills – he remarks – It is therefore essential to establish Molecular Tumor Boards, in which skills from different areas are involved, such as oncohematology, pathological anatomy, medical genetics, molecular biology, clinical pharmacology, hospital pharmacy and other professional figures”, he concludes.
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