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Masterclasses

MC1.3 Personalised Medicine on Cancer Treatment 13:15 Convention Hall A

Personalised Anti-cancer Therapy for the Practicing Physicians – a Primer Monday, 18 May
Ma BBY
Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong

The practice of oncology has undergone a major paradigm shift in the last decade because of some important advances
in the molecular biology of cancer. The discovery of new therapeutic targets through the use of new genomic technologies
has led to the development of new molecular targeted drugs for diverse cancer types, such as cancers of the lung, breast,
colorectum, kidney, sarcoma, melanoma, chronic leukemia and other rarer tumors. The patient subgroups that are more
likely to respond through the use of predictive biomarkers have dramatically improved cancer survival and altered the natural
history of some advanced cancers. The predictive biomarkers that are in clinical use are predominantly genetic aberrations
detectable in tumor tissues, such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation, human epidermal growth factor
receptor 2 (HER-2) amplification, echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 anaplastic lymphoma kinase (EML4-ALK)
gene rearrangement, KIT and RAS mutations. Newer PCR technologies that can detect minute levels of these mutations in
patient’s plasma are now undergoing clinical validation.

The advent of next generation sequencing technology has also opened up opportunities in assigning patients to different
experimental drug trials, and studying the molecular mechanisms of acquired resistance to molecular targeted drugs. These
new technologies and biomarkers will have significant impact on clinical practice and healthcare system. This talk will focus
on the essentials of personalised medicine that every practicing physician involved in cancer care should know.

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