Highlights from the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), being held in Chicago:
- Liquid biopsies promise to improve diagnosis and treatment of diverse types of cancer. At the meeting, Philip Mack, director of molecular pharmacology at the University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, presented the results of a study evaluating the outcomes of more than 15,000 liquid biopsies performed by the Silicon Valley startup Guardant Health. Guardant’s test, which looks at mutations in 70 cancer-related genes, yielded results similar to those gleaned from tumor biopsies. “I think this study really demonstrates the veracity of the liquid biopsy approach,” Mack, who has been a paid speaker for Guardant, told The New York Times.
- Another hot topic at the meeting is the advance of precision (or personalized) medicine, which aims to target treatments for patients based on the genetics of their tumors, The...
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