14 May Appendix Tumors Demonstrate All Cancers Are Not the Same

Posted at 00:35h in Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Dartmouth by

Gregory J. Tsongalis, PhD, HCLD, CC, FNACB Professor of Pathology Director, Molecular Pathology Co-Director, Translational Research Program Department of Pathology Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and The Audrey and Theodor Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth Lebanon, NH 03756MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Gregory J. Tsongalis, PhD, HCLD, CC, FNACB
Professor of Pathology
Director, Molecular Pathology
Co-Director, Translational Research Program
Department of Pathology
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and
The Audrey and Theodor Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth Lebanon, NH 03756

MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Tsongalis: This was the first study of its kind looking at multiple genes and multiple mutations in tumors of the appendix. Many of the identified mutations may be clinically actionable with respect to response to therapy or selection of therapy.

MedicalResearch: Were any of the findings unexpected?

Dr. Tsongalis: While the findings were not completely unexpected, it was very interesting to see the degree of heterogeneity between and within the same categories of disease, even though the diagnosis was the same. This in part helps us to understand why some patients have better outcomes than others.

MedicalResearch: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Tsongalis: The main message is that no cancer diagnosis is the same. There may be underlying molecular changes that allow a tumor to either be sensitive to or resistant to therapies. These tests need to be done routinely.

MedicalResearch: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Tsongalis:  An exciting study would be to follow patients prospectively and design therapeutic strategies for each of them based on their molecular profile.

 Citation:

Molecular Profiling of Appendiceal Epithelial Tumors Using Massively Parallel Sequencing to Identify Somatic Mutations
Xiaoying Liu, Kabir Mody, Francine B. de Abreu, J. Marc Pipas, Jason D. Peterson, Torrey L. Gallagher, Arief A. Suriawinata, Gregory H. Ripple, Kathryn C. Hourdequin, Kerrington D. Smith, Richard J. Barth, Jr., Thomas A. Colacchio, Michael J. Tsapakos, Bassem I. Zaki, Timothy B. Gardner, Stuart R. Gordon, Christopher I. Amos, Wendy A. Wells, and Gregory J. Tsongalis

Clinical Chemistry clinchem.2014.225565 Published May 12, 2014.

Last Updated on October 18, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

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