Dr. Sohal on the Challenges of Standardizing Genomic Profiling and Precision Medicine

Davendra Sohal, MD, MPH, oncologist and Director of the Clinical Genomics Program at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, discusses the feasibility of standardizing genomic profiling and apply precision medicine techniques.

His team conducted a prospective trial which included 250 patients with incurable, solid tumor cancers. All patients received genomic profiling for up to 350 cancer-related genes. Most of the results were available within a medium of 26 days after informed consent and 63% of patients were determined to have a biologically actionable alteration within their tumors.

However, due to a lack of available targeted therapies and clinical trials, only 11% of the patients with biologically actionable alterations within their tumors were able to receive specifically targeted treatment, said Sohal.

In order for precision medicine to become more commonplace, clinical trials of novel targeted therapies needs to be increased and made more accessible, he said.