Dr. Halmos on Detecting Actionable Mutations in Patients With Lung Cancer

Balazs Halmos, MD, section chief of Thoracic Oncology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, comments on the detection of actionable mutations in patients with lung cancer.

CO-1686 and AZD9291 represent examples of two drugs that only benefit patients with EGFR mutations, Halmos says, ​which is 10-15% of all patients with lung cancer.

For a community oncologist, it is important to look at all patients and classify them by their actionable mutation. This poses a problem, though, as more testing is needed. It is crucial for a community oncologist to be aligned with a comprehensive cancer center for its expertise in medical oncology and treatment, but also for its expertise in pathological genetics.