Tumour heterogeneity in the clinic

PL Bedard, AR Hansen, MJ Ratain, LL Siu - Nature, 2013 - nature.com
Nature, 2013nature.com
Recent therapeutic advances in oncology have been driven by the identification of tumour
genotype variations between patients, called interpatient heterogeneity, that predict the
response of patients to targeted treatments. Subpopulations of cancer cells with unique
genomes in the same patient may exist across different geographical regions of a tumour or
evolve over time, called intratumour heterogeneity. Sequencing technologies can be used to
characterize intratumour heterogeneity at diagnosis, monitor clonal dynamics during …
Abstract
Recent therapeutic advances in oncology have been driven by the identification of tumour genotype variations between patients, called interpatient heterogeneity, that predict the response of patients to targeted treatments. Subpopulations of cancer cells with unique genomes in the same patient may exist across different geographical regions of a tumour or evolve over time, called intratumour heterogeneity. Sequencing technologies can be used to characterize intratumour heterogeneity at diagnosis, monitor clonal dynamics during treatment and identify the emergence of clinical resistance during disease progression. Genetic interpatient and intratumour heterogeneity can pose challenges for the design of clinical trials that use these data.
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